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1771.  1871. 


ADDRESSES   AND   PROCEEDINGS 


Centennial  Anniversary 


CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH, 


November  12  and  13,  18T1. 


COMiFILEID    BY    ORaDER    OI""    THE    CHXIRCH, 

By   M.  T.  RUNNELS,  Pastor. 


HARTFORD,    CONN: 

PRESS  OF  CASE,  LOCKWOOD  &  BRAINARD. 

1872. 


CONTENTS. 


PAQI. 

Preliminary  and  Introductory,            .             .             -  5 

Order  of  Exercises,            -            -            -            -  ^ 

"  Sermon,"             -      .      -            -            -            -            -  9 

Remarks  jvt  the  Memorial  Communion,     -             -  22 

"  Historical  Address,"  -----  27 

Proceedings  at  the  Town  Hall,               -             -  64 

7Q 
Appendix, 


1Q66728 


PRELIMINARY  AND  INTRODUCTORY. 


The  present  situation  of  the  Congregational  Parish  of  Sanbornton, 
N.  H.,  is  peculiar.  Fifty  years  ago  the  "  Square,"  where  the  Church 
is  located,  was  a  large  business  centre ;  but  now  all  trade  and  nearly 
all  branches  of  mechanical  industry  have  deserted  that  place  and  gone 
to  the  neighboring  villages. 

The  present  members  of  the  Church  and  Society  belong  to  two 
different  towns,  and  go  to  no  less  than  seveii  different  localities  for 
store  and  post-office  accommodations. 

The  ecclesiastical  tie  is  now  the  only  one  which  holds  the  people  to 
this  ancient  "  hill  of  Zion."  This  survives  all  other  bonds  of  connec- 
tion, and  is  still  a  strong  one.  May  it  never  be  dissolved.  With  the 
view  to  perpetuating  this  bond  of  union  by  the  hallowed  memories  of 
the  past,  though  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  doing  honor  to  the  fathers 
and  guardians  of  the  Church  through  all  its  remarkable  history,  a 
plan  was  entered  upon  in  1870  to  celebrate  the  one  hundredth  anni- 
versary of  its  organization,  in  some  appropriate  way,  the  following 
year. 

At  a  Church  meeting,  December  31,  1870,  an  expression  was 
made  by  nearly  every  member  present  in  favor  of  attempting  such 
centennial  observances. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting,  March  4,  1871.  Dea.  Abraham  B.  San- 
born, Dea.  Joseph  Emery,  and  the  Pastor,  Rev.  Moses  T.  Runnels, 
were  chosen  as  a  "  Committee  of  Arrangements."  The  day  of  the 
Rev.  Joseph  Woodman's  ordination  in  1771i  November  13,  having 
on  two  occasions  afterwards  been  observed  by  the  Church  as  an  anni- 
versary day,  and  the  evidence  having  increased  that  the  Church  was 
probably  formed  on  that  day  or  very  near  it,  the   precise  date   being 


6 

unknown,  the  Committee  felt  at  liberty  to  select  none  other  than  No- 
vember 13,  1871,  for  the  Centennial  Day,  though  knowing  that  the 
lateness  of  the  season  might  serve  as  an  objection  to  many  minds. 

Finding  that  this  day  came  op  Monday,  it  was  resolved  to  observe 
also  the  Sabbath  preceding  by  appropriate  services,  especially  by  a 
"  Memorial  Communion  "  season  in  the  afternoon.  It  was  also  voted 
to  invite  Prof.  Joseph  C.  Bodwell,  of  the  Hartford  Theological  Sem- 
inary to  deliver  the  "Historical  Address"  on  Monday  the  13th;  and 
the  Rev.  Frederic  T.  Perkins,  also  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  to  preach  the 
''  Sermon"  on  Sabbath  morning- of  the  12th,  with  the  understanding 
that  the  two,  as  sons  of  the  Church,  should  officiate  jointly  at  the 
Communion  Table,  on  Sabbath,  p.  M. 

It  was  further  determined  to  extend  particular  or  official  invitations 
only  to  absent  members  of  the  Church,  and  to  those  who  had  former- 
ly been  members,  so  far  as  their  present  residences  could  be  ascer- 
tained, with  the  understanding  that  individual  members  of  the  Church 
or  Society  might  privately  invite  their  absent  friends  at  pleasure ; 
also  to  send  general  notices  of  the  meeting,  a  few  Sabbaths  in  ad- 
vance, to  all  the  other  churches  of  Sanbornton,  and  to  those  churches 
in  Tilton,  Franklin,  and  Hill,  which  originally  were,  in  part,  com- 
posed of  Sanbornton  material. 

When  the  anniversary  days  arrived,  the  events  of  a  favoring  Provi- 
dence proved  the  wisdom  of  these  arrangements,  and  crowned  them 
with  success.  The  weather  was  all  that  could  have  been  desired  ; 
both  days  clear,  calm,  resplendent,  and  decidedly,  though  not  uncom- 
fortably, cool  ;  quite  unlike  the  corresponding  days  in  November,  1806, 
when  Rev,  Mr,  Woodman  was  dismissed  and  Rev,  Mr,  Bodwell  or- 
dained, which  are  said  to  have  been  remarkably  ''  warm  and  Summer 
like  "  ;  while  now  six  inches  of  snow,  which  had  fallen  two  days  be- 
fore, afforded  "  the  first  sleighing  of  the  season,"  and  thus  gave  op- 
portunity to  several  aged  people  to  be  present  at  the  exercises  who 
could  not  otherwise  have  come.  The  audiences  were  composed  of 
citizens  of  the  town  and  friends  of  the  Church  from  abroad,  all 
evidently  in  deep  sympathy  with  the  occasion.  They  varied  in 
numbers  from  300  to  500,  completely  filling,  but  not  thronging,  the 
houses,  so  that  all  confusion  was  avoided. 

All  outward  circumstances, — except  the  want  of  "  more  time  "  as 
night  on  the  second  day  approached — tended  to  the  success  of  the 
Celebration,  and  the  heart-felt  satisfaction  of  those  engaged  in  it. 

By  a  vote  of  the   Church,  January  6,  1872,  copies  of  the  sermon 


of  Rev.  Mr.  Perkins,  and  the  address  of  Dr.  Bodwell,  "  with  sincere 
thanks  for  the  same,"  were  requested  for  publication.  They  are  here 
presented  to  the  public,  with  notices  of  the  accompanying  exercises, 
and  with  tlie  added  prayer  that  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  may 
continue  to  make  them  a  means  of  spiritual  profit  and  blessing,  both 
to  the  present  and  to  succeeding  generations. 
Sanbornton,  March  18, 1872. 


ORDER    OF    EXERCISES. 

The  exercises  on  Sunday  A.  M.,  November  12th,  in  the  meeting- 
house (see  Appendix,  Note  A)  consisted  of  the  Opening  Services  and 
Prayer  by  the  Pastor,  followed  by  the  "  Sermon  "  of  the  Rev.  F.  T* 
Perkins. 

At  intermission  the  Sabbath-School  Concert  exercises  were  of  a 
memorial  character,  followed  by  appropriate  remarks  from  Mr.  Jona. 
P.  Sanborn,  of  Tilton,  and  Mr.  Joseph  W.  Lang,  of  Meredith  Village. 
(See  Appendix,  Note  B.) 

In  the  p.  M.,  before  the  Memorial  Communion,  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture were  read  by  the  Pastor  as  follows :  Exodus,  xii.  21-27  ;  Deut- 
vi.  20-25  ;  Eph.  ii.  13-22. 

Administration  of  the  Sacrament  by  Rev.  Messrs.  Bodwell  and 
Perkins. 


Programme  of  Exercises  in  the  meeting-house,  November   13th, 
commencing  at  lOg  a.  m. 

1.  Announcement  by  the  Marshal.     (Appendix  Note  C.) 

2.  Voluntary  by  the  Choir.     (Appendix,  Note  D.) 

3.  Invocation  and  reading  of  the  following  select  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture by  the  Pastor:  Pts.  xliv.  1-4;  Ps.  cxxxii.  1-9  and  13-16  ; 
Ps.  cxxxiii;  Matt,  xviii.  15-17  ;  Matt.  xvi.  16-18;  Eph.  iv.  4-8 
and  11-13;  Col.  i.  16-18;  Eph.  iii.  20-21. 

4.  Singing  by  the  Choir.     "  Denmark." 

5.  Prayer  by  the  Rev.  T.  C.  Pratt,  of  Tilton. 

6.  Singing  by  the  Choir:  1025  Sabbath  Hymn-Book. 

7.  "  Historical  Address,"  interluded  by  the  singing  of  "  Lenox  "  : 
120  Sabbath  Hymn-Book,  first  and  last  stanzas. 

8.  Concluding  Prayer  by  the  Rev.  N.  P.  Philbrick,  of  Northfield. 

9.  Singing  by  the  Choir  aiid  Congregation.  "  Turner  "  :  462  Sab- 
bath Hymn-Book,  first  and  last  stanzas. 

10.  Further  Announcement  by  the  Marshal  and  adjournment  to  the 
Town  Hall. 


SERMON. 


GOD    AS   LOVE    IN    CHKIST. 

For  this  centeimial  occasion  you  may  have  expected  some- 
thing historical  in  character.  But  remembering  that  this  is 
your  connnunion  Hahbath,  and  that  history  is  to  come  to-mor- 
row, 1  have  chosen  to  bring  to  mind  the  great  fact  from  which 
have  come  the  life  of  the  Church  and  all  that  is  of  value  in 
your  history  for  a  hundred  years, — 

"GOD    IS    LOVE."     I  John,  4,  8. 

The  proof  of  this — the  most  blessed  fact  of  revelation — is 
given  in  the  next  verse :  "  In  this  was  manifested  the  love  of 
God  toward  us,  because  that  God  sent  his  only  begotten 
Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might  live  throngh  Him." 

This  is  not  merely  a  proof  but  the  proof  of  the  fact  stated. 
God  as  love  is  found  neither  in  nature  nor  in  providence,  till 
He  is  found  in  Christ. 

Entering  the  Patent  Office  at  Washington,  one  bright  June 
morning,  and  examining  the  works  of  inventive  minds,  hour 
after  hour,  till  brain-weary,  and  then,  yielding  to  the  influ- 
ences of  the  place,  I  seemed  in  the  presence  of  the  living 
minds  that  had  been  darkly  working  their  way  into  a  friendly 
acquaintance  with  some  of  the  principles  and  forces  created 
of  God  for  our  willing  servants,  and  caught  bright  glimpses 
of  some  grand  design  of  good  for  man,  outside  of  and  above 


10 

nature — a  foreshadowing  of  something  better,  as  reddening 
clouds  of  morning  herald  the  light  coming  up — I  felt  some- 
thing of  the  warmth  of  a  great  love  beyond ;  caught  sounds 
as  of  distant  heralds  crying, "  Behold  your  Saviour  cometh  !  " 

But  Nature  must  feel  the  touch  of  a  live  coal  from  God's 
altar,  before  she  can  utter  the  great  words,  "  God  is  love." 
And  none  but  the  Son  of  Man  can  put  that  coal  to  her  lips. 
And  no  ear  hears  the  voice  when  uttered  till  that  also  is 
touched  by  the  finger  of  Jesus.  We  come  to  God  in  Christ 
to  learn  that  "  God  is  love." 

We  stand  in  the  presence  of  a  great  fact,  hard,  yet  easy,  to 
understand — impossible  for  the  intellect  alone,  but  easy  for  a 
right  heart. 

Power  may  be  handled  by  the  intellect.  We  find  it  excit- 
ing to  work  the  great  problems  respecting  the  material  uni- 
verse. Intellect  goes  forth  exulting  also  in  her  successful 
researches  amid  the  exhibitions  of  wisdom. 

But  love  is  not  so  handled.  Just  here,  more  than  any- 
where else,  is  the  blight  of  sin  on  the  heart,  on  the  power  of 
loving,  and  so  on  the  power  of  apprehending  God.  Love 
apprehends  Him  who  is  love. 

God  would  reveal  himself,  not  as  power,  not  as  wisdom,  nor 
yet  as  mere  goodness,  but  as  love.  This  term  expresses  Him 
as  no  other  term  does.  Other  terms,  as  power  and  wisdom, 
express  attributes.  Love  expresses  that  to  which  the  attri- 
butes belong.  What  if  God  would  be  known  as  Almighty 
Power  ?  How  would  He  show  himself  to  a  world  in  sin  ? 
Who  dare  imagine  what  forms  of  wrath  Omnipotence — out 
against  the  wicked — would  assume?  From  what  unseen 
hands  retribution  would  play  upon  us  ?  If  displays  of  power 
were  the  main  thing  they  would  meet  us  every  where.  Great 
forces  now  sleeping  quietly  all  around  us,  or  cheerfully  serv- 
ing us,  would  come  forth  as  ministers  of  evil.  The  earth, 
the  clouds,  the  winds,  all  the  elements,  are  full  of  mighty 
forces.  Should  the  Almighty  body  himself  forth  in  these  to 
impress  the  world  with  the  thought  that  He  is  all  power,  sud- 
den terror  would  seize  all  hearts.  Or,  if  knowledge  was  the 
one  thing,  without  reference  to  beneficent  ends,  how  unlike 
what  now  is. 


11 

1  thus  merely  start  a  thought  of  much  ijiterest.  Not  as 
power  or  wisdom,  hut  as  love  God  would  be  kuown.  He  is 
not  merely  lovely,  but  is  Love  itself.  A  particular  manifesta- 
tion of  this  love  we  call  goodness,  wisdom,  or  power,  truth, 
mercy,  or  justice,  according  to  the  specific  act  or  work  in 
mind.  But  that  which  is  the  source  of  them  all  is  Love. 
Light  may  reveal  itself  in  rays  red,  orange,  yellow,  green, 
blue,  indigo,  or  violet ;  but  light  is  not  expressed  by  either. 
It  is  the  sum  of  them  all.  So  it  is  with  the  love  of  God. 
Take  up  any  line  of  truth  and  follow  it  out,  and  we  come 
into  the  light  of  love. 

Here  then  we  stand  in  a  universe  illimitable,  and  through 
all  its  parts,  laws,  and  ends,  shines  a  light  from  a  Sun  beyond. 

Upon  the  leaves  of  Nature  God  writes  what  He  can ;  but 
only  in  the  record  of  his  Son  can  be  found  the  three  syllables, 
"  God  is  love." 

Here  it  may  be  well  to  forestall  objections.  From  the  fact 
of  sin,  from  clouds  of  darkness  over-hanging  us,  from  sorrows 
experienced,  and  woes  denounced,  objections  arise.  These 
may  spring  from  ignorance  or  wickedness.  Objections  have 
sometimes  been  urged  against  God's  wisdom.  Astronomers 
have  found  among  the  heavenly  bodies,  irregularities,  seem- 
ingly, against  the  perfection  of  God's  work.  A  royal  astron- 
omer of  England — Alphonso — impiously  said,  "  If  I  had  been 
by  when  God  made  the  universe,  I  could  have  given  Him 
some  good  advice."  But  advanced  science  finds  established 
order  in  the  seeming  variations,  and  hence  proofs  /o/-,  not 
against  creative  wisdom.  Hence  the  irresistible  conviction 
that,  with  a  correct  understanding  of  all,  we  should  find  per- 
fect wisdom  in  all.  Science,  as  well  as  the  Bible,  rebukes 
the  impiety  that  would  instruct  the  All-wise.  So  it  turns  out, 
also,  respecting  objections  to  Divine  goodness:  as,  e.  g.,  the 
objection  arising  from  our  exposure  to  suffering.  A  careful 
examination  shows  that  God  has  guarded  against  unneces- 
sary suffering ;  that  in  covering  the  surface  of  the  human 
system  with  sensitiveness,  special  pains  have  been  taken  to 
reduce  suffering  to  the  lowest  point  consistent  with  the  safety 
of  the  body  and  the  greatest  practicable  amount  of  happiness. 


12 

With  increasing  light  comes  the  conviction  that,  could  we  see 
through  every  thing,  we  should  find  in  every  provision  of  the 
Creator  bright  evidence  of  perfect  goodness,  and  that,  at  the 
last,  there  will  remain  on  pure  minds,  no  shadow  of  doubt  of 
Divine  Goodness  in  any  respect  whatsoever.  Here,  too,  what 
seemed  an  objection  turns  out  a  witness  for  God. 

So  in  regard  to  God  as  Love.  Finite  minds  find  difficul- 
ties in  the  fact  and  in  the  consequences  of  sin.  But  what  if 
unable  to  answer  every  question  about  the  creation  and  treat- 
ment of  moral  beings  ?  We  may  be  sure  that,  as  the  appear- 
ance of  imperfection  in  creation  results  from  our  ignorance, 
so  seeming  objections  to  God's  love  spring  from  our  blindness 
or  perverseness,  and  will,  in  the  end,  proclaim  that  love. 

From  what  we  do  know  we  are  assured  that,when  fully  un- 
derstood, every  thing  in  creation,  in  providence,  and  in  re- 
demption, will  prove  the  offspring  and  the  expression  of 
Infinite  Love. 

At  the  outset  we  find  that  the  very  difficulties  standing  in 
our  way,  the  very  sins  and  sorrows  confronting  us,  do  this 
against  God's  expressed  wish ;  that  they  have  broken  in  upon 
a  system  of  order,  and  are  at  war  upon  its  intended  ends. 
Disorders  and  rebellions  against  the  Federal  Government 
prove,  not  the  badness  of  the  government,  but  of  the  men  un- 
der it. 

Then  by  the  side  of  these  very  evils,  thus  intruding 
themselves,  are  special  provisions  to  check,  overrule,  and  re- 
move them.  God  meets  them  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  that 
there  can  be  in  his  heart  nothing  but  good  will.  When  we 
come  to  see  far  enough  we  shall  find  that  Omnipotence  does 
not  step  in  to  prevent  these  evils  because  wisdom  and  good- 
ness forbid. 

But  come  to  positive  proof.  "  In  this  was  manifested  the 
love  of  God  toward  us,  because  that  God  sent  his  only  be- 
gotten Son  into  the  world,  that  we  miglit  live  through  Him." 
Amid  all  other  proofs,  this  one  stands  as  a  bright  sun  amid 
glimmering  stars. 

Love  is  estimated  by  its  expressions  -in  deeds,  in  sacrifices 
and  sutferings :  and  these  expressions  are  measured  by  the 


13 

characters  making  them.  Thus  we  measure  the  devotion  of 
loyal  Americans  to  tlieir  institutions  as  expressed  in  their  sac- 
rifices to  save  them,  and  these  sacrifices,  the  great  heart-offer- 
ings of  intelligent  Christian  men  and  women.  But  what  if 
all  in  the  service  of  the  country  had  been  as  exalted  as  the 
President ;  great  as  the  Prophets ;  good  as  the  Apostles  ? 
Then  how  expressive  the  devotion,  though  for  their  own  in- 
stitutions and  their  own  country  I  But  greater  still  the  ofifer- 
ing  so  far  as  it  was  for  tlie  poor  and  the  oppressed.  But  what 
if  the  noblest  of  Europe — kings  and  emperors — had  crossed 
the  Atlantic  to  lay  down  their  lives  for  the  sake  of  free  insti- 
tutions for  us  and  for  the  world  ?  What  if  the  greatest  and 
purest  before  the  throne  of  God  had  taken  our  places  and 
suffered  for  us  ?  Then  what  an  offering  upon  the  Altar  of 
Freedom  ! 

But  the  Lord  of  angels,  tlie  King  of  kings — God — came 
in  the  flesh  and  laid  His  life  upon  the  altar  of  Redemption. 
What  thought  can  reacli  the  height  whence  the  Lord  Jesus 
came  ?  or  take  the  great  steps  down  to  the  low  depths  to 
which  he  went?  What  an  expression  of  love!  What  a 
movement  of  God  ! 

And  for  whom  ?  Not  for  holy  angels — not  for  beings  ready 
to  hail  Him  as  a  deliverer  and  bless  Him  for  His  goodness. 
For  Avhom  ?  "  God  commendeth  His  love  toward  us,  in  that 
while  we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us."  For  us  sin- 
ners— for  us  rebels  against  a  perfect  government — rebels 
worse  than  any  ever  in  arms  against  our  goveriuuent.  For 
guiltiest  rebels  Immanucl  died. 

For  our  President  to  sacrifice  his  life  to  save  our  government 
was  a  great  sacrifice  ;  but  what  to  the  offering  of  the  Son  of 
God  for  us — for  i^s  all — even  for  those  now  sinning  hy  reject- 
ing Him.  With  anything  short  of  love  as  the  sum  and 
substance  of  His  being,  could  God  have  made  such  a  mani- 
festation of  Himself? 

We  were  to  be  reached  and  lifted,  not  by  the  hand  of  Om- 
nipotence, but  only  by  the  heart  of  love  divine.  Our  Lord 
came  forth  in  a  form  like  our  own  ;  entered  the  ordinary  con- 
ditions, met  tlie  common  necessities  of  trial  and  temptation, 


14 

suffered  death  !  that  He  might  come  within  the  reach  of  our 
sympathies,  within  the  embrace  of  our  affections. 

With  this  manifestation  of  love  we  are  all  familiar.  From 
childhood  we  have  heard  and  read  it,  thought  and  sung  of  it ; 
and  yet  it  is  so  great  we  cannot  grasp  it.  God  is  not  to  be 
brought  within  the  little'  measure  of  our  thought.  Beside, 
the  heart,  not  the  mind,  finds  the  true  God.  Love  finds  Him 
who  is  Love. 

I  can  only  touch  the  hem  of  the  great  subject,  suggest 
points  to  awaken  thought,  that  thinking  we  may  open  our 
hearts,  and  opening  our  hearts  may  come  to  know  God. 
0,  Spirit  of  Love  !  Touch  our  hearts — open  them — manifest 
in  them  Him  who  is  Love  ! 

Advancing  as  far  as  finite  minds  can  go  amid  the  wonders 
of  power  and  wisdom,  the  wisest  feel  that  they  have  only 
reached  the  borders  of  creation.  Beyond  all  seen  and  known 
is  infinitely  more — beyond  all  is  God  !  How,  then,  measure 
this  love  which  moves  the  Infinite  One  in  His  ways,  shines 
through  everything,  spreads  itself  over  all,  is  felt  even  by  our 
wicked  hearts  ?  As  the  sun  comes  down  upon  the  earth, 
spreads  its  light  over  it,  sends  its  heat  into  it,  covers  it  with 
the  blessedness  of  life,  so  the  God  of  love  comes  upon  our 
race,  would  enter  all  hearts  and  fill  them  with  the  light  of 
life  and  love. 

Of  the  proofs  of  this  love,  of  some  of  its  blessed  fruits,  we 
can  speak.  From  this  ocean  of  God's  Being — never  by  us  to 
be  fathomed  nor  surrounded — we  may  drink. 

We  help  our  conceptions  by  what  we  know  of  human  love. 
A  mother's  love  is  wonderful.  It  can  bear  any  burden,  en- 
dure any  suffering,  any  death,  for  a  child.  A  mother  with 
her  babe  overtaken  by  a  cold  storm  of  snow,  wandering, 
weary  and  lost,  lies  down,  the  better  to  shelter  her  little  one, 
and  give  it  the  warmth  of  her  bosom.  As  it  grows  cold  she 
spares  more  and  more  of  the  covering  of  her  own  suffering, 
freezing  body,  and  wraps  the  babe  safely.  In  the  embrace  of 
a  frozen  mother  the  child  was  found  with  the  clothing  and 
warmth  of  her  love.  When,  last  fall,  the  flames,  with  the 
speed  of  a  race-horse,  were  rushing  through  the  forests  of  the 


15 

Northwest,  they  encircled  a  mother  with  her  child.  She  hol- 
lowed out  a  place  in  the  earth  for  her  child,  then,  coverino,-  it 
with  her  own  body,  awaited  the  flames  and  remained  till, 
burned  to  a  crisp,  her  lifeless  form  sunk  too  heavily  down  and 
smothered  the  life  which  her  love  had  saved  from  the  fire. 

The  love  of  companion  for  companion  can  not  only  suffer 
]>ut  find  joy  in  so  doing,  and  make  its  object  feel  that  neither 
father  nor  mother,  son  nor  daughter,  is  so  dear  ;  a  love  so 
pure,  so  strong,  that  only  love  for  God  can  Ije  purer  or 
stronger.  Feeling  this  love,  dwelling  in  it  as  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  love,  and  able  to  characterize  such  a  heart  only 
by  saying  it  is  all  love,  we  come  to  understand  something  of 
Divine  love — but  only  as,  from  a  single  drop,  we  understand 
tlie  ocean  whence  tlie  drop  comes.  Then  we  learn  something 
of  Divine  love  from  its  effects,  its  production  of  love  like  itself. 

As  all  tlie  waters  of  tlie  continents  in  dew,  rain,  snow,  in 
springs,  rivers,  and  lakes,  come  from  the  ocean,  raised  by 
the  sun  and  borne  in  clouds  on  wings  of  winds,  so  all  true 
love  and  the  joys  thence  arising  come  from  the  great  ocean — 
God — through  our  Sun  of  Righteousness.  Who  measure  the 
good  thus  l)rouglit  to  us  ?  Who  number  the  streams  so  full, 
filling  myriads  with  holy  joy,  causing  exulting  anthems  to 
burst  forth  from  happy  liearts  ?  What  the  fountain  compared 
witli  wliich  all  this  is  but  a  drop  ? 

To  heighten  our  conceptions  of  tliis  work  of  love,  we  re- 
member in  what  kind  of  liearts  this  is  done.  A  mother's  love 
for  the  true  and  loving  child  is  wonderful.  But  the  love 
that  holds  out,  grows  strong,  finds  ways  of  expression  towards 
the  child  wayward  and  wicked  ;  the  love  that  can  hold  on  to 
him,  reach  him  in  his  farthest  wanderings,  find  his  heart  in 
his  worst  degradation,  and  in  holiest  communings  bear  him 
up  and  hold  him  up  before  the  throne,  of  grace,  and  there 
wrestle  in  pleadings  more  than  if  for  life ;  the  love  that, 
through  God,  can  soften  and  save,  that  can  awaken  love  like 
itself — 0,  that  is  a  greater  love.  0,  the  love  of  a  good 
mother !     Thank  God  for  the  priceless  treasure  ! 

So  the  conjugal  love  for  the  true  and  noble,  responding  to 
its  every  sign  and  token,  is  great.     But  the  love  that  lives, 


16 

moves,  and  has  its  being  for  one  who  has  put  off  his  human- 
ity ond  has  put  on  the  ferocity  of  a  brute ;  the  love  that  can 
live,  grow  strong,  turn  God-like  in  expression,  win,  save  such 
an  one,  bring  him  back  to  a  better  love  than  his  first — this  is 
most  wonderful.  0,  the  wealth  of  affection  in  such  a  heart !  so 
like  Christ's  love  that  it  could  go  to  the  cross  for  its  object ! 

But  the  love  of  God  in  Christ,  doing  the  wisest,  kindest, 
best  possible  things  for  beings  whose  guilt  and  degradation  no 
language  can  express  ;  love  making  the  greatest  sacrifices, 
most  affecting  demonstrations  of  itself  for  enemies  ;  Love  In- 
carnate moving  among  the  guilty  in  all  the  winning  forms  of 
goodness  ;  stooping  down  to  touch  bosoms  warmed  by  no  love 
in  return,  pressing  down  to  the  lowest,  touching  hearts  the 
hardest,  opening  the  gates  of  life  before  the  worst ;  love  that 
can  reach  cold,  dark,  guilty  spirits,  make  them  all  pure,  glow- 
ing, God-like  in  love ;  the  love  that  can  do  this  we  compre- 
hend only  as  we  comprehend  God. 

Could  we  now  gather  up  the  trophies  of  this  victorious  love, 
have  in  one  view  the  whole  work  of  Love  Licarnate  in  souls 
purified,  enter  the  inner  life  and  learn  the  joys  unutterable  in 
fellowship  with  the  God  of  love,  foresee  the  growth — the 
future  greatness — of  souls  in  love,  and  still  with  a  power  of 
growth  above  all  present  power  of  conception,  then  might  we 
have  some  worthy  view  of  the  work  of  Him  who  is  Love. 

We  sometimes  feel  the  poAver  of  this  Divine  love,  are 
warmed,  lifted,  filled  with  it.  But  we  cannot  express  it. 
Many  others  have  felt  tbe  same.  0,  how  many  here  in  con- 
nection with  this  church  during  the  century  past,  have  rejoiced 
in  more  than  could  be  expressed  !  They  have  comprehended 
something  of  the  breadth  and  length,  depth  and  height  of  the 
love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge ;  and  so  they  came 
to  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  Him  who  is  Love. 

This — all  this — here,  as  the  fruit  of  that  love. 

But  how  much  more  there,  in  the  presence  of  Love,  where 
all  are  changed  into  the  same  image  !  Some  very  dear  to  us, 
beloved  pastors,  deacons,  and  members  of  this  church,  and  of 
others,  are  in  that  home  of  love — some  long  there !  How 
much  they  know  of  Him  who  is  Love ! 


17 

There  is  a  great  multitude  there.  Many  more  are  to  be 
gathered  in.  We,  many  of  iis,  enjoy  foretastes,  expect  soon 
to  be  filled  full  with  that  love.     0,  that  all  might ! 

Note  this  also  :  that  God  is  revealed  not  only  in  what  His 
love  does,  but  in  what  it  is  fitted  to  do. 

Made  to  love  and  be  loved  of  God,  every  heart  should  be 
filled  with  His  love.  He  would  have  a  great  tide  of  love  flow 
through  every  bosom.  He  would  have  every  heart-beat  a 
throbbing  of  pure  love.  So  the  God  of  love  would  have  it. 
What  if  here,  for  a  century,  the  love  of  God  had  wrought 
out  all  that  it  is  fitted  to  do  in  every  heart  and  life  ?  What 
blessed  results  in  this  old  church  and  town  !  Such  a  state — 
blessed  beyond  our  present  conceptions — redeeming  love  will 
yet  produce.  Bad  as  the  world  is,  cold  in  s})iritual  death, 
Divine  love,  as  the  breath  of  life,  shall  be  breathed  over  this 
great  vale  of  deatli.  As  the  Prophet  stretched  himself  upon 
the  widow's  son,  hands  upon  hands,  face  to  face,  till  by  his 
warmth  and  life  he  restored  the  child  to  his  mother ;  so  God, 
in  Christ,  comes  to  us  with  all  the  warmth  and  life  of  Infinite 
Love  Incarnate,  to  come  into  contact  with  our  race,  to  impart 
His  life  to  dead  souls. 

The  Finlanders  have  a  beautiful  legend  to  show  the  power 
of  love.  It  states  that  a  mother  having  lost  her  only  son, 
sought  him  with  unwearied  diligence,  with  long  and  patient 
toil.  At  last  she  found  his  remains,  torn  into  a  thousand 
pieces,  at  the  bottom  of  the  river  of  death.  Eagerly  gather- 
ing the  scattered  fragments  of  her  child,  she  folded  them  to 
her  bosom,  sang  to  them,  and  rocked  them,  till,  such  was  the 
warmth  and  power  of  her  love,  it  restored  her  boy  to  form 
and  life. 

Thus  our  Father  in  heaven  loves  and  seeks  us  9,11.  We, 
spiritually  dead,  should  remain  forever  in  hoi)eless  ruin  but 
for  this  love,  holier  than  a  mother's,  which  seeks  us,  lifts  us 
to  the  Divine  bosom,  sings  to  us  of  Bethlehem,  Gethsemane, 
and  Calvary  ;  and  so  heals  our  wounds,  restores  to  our  souls 
the  lost  life  of  love,  and  fills  with  eternal  joy.  Amazing 
love!  God  Incarnate,  that  He  might  search  us  out,  be 
bruised  for  our  iniquities,  torn  to  pieces  for  us,  that  in  dying 


18 

He  might  by  the  wonderful  power  of  His  love,  reach  our 
dead  souls  and  restore  us  to  life  immortal ! 

Dear  friends,  this  love  it  is  that  comes  to  us  now,  seeks 
us,  speaks  to  us,  tries  to  save  us — you,  me,  all. 

0,  will  not  all  your  hearts  open  to  this  love,  be  made  active 
by  it  ?  find  your  heaven  in  it  ?  Thus  only  by  the  heart  can 
we  come  to  know  that  "  God  is  love." 

This  vieiv  of  God  should  correct  some  wrong  impressions  re- 
specting his  JProvidences. 

They  look  dark  sometimes,  seem  unkind.  In  spite  of  His 
goodness  suspicions  exist  that  back  of  all  is  something  very 
different  from  love.  There  is  enough  in  God's  treatment  of 
sinners  to  disturb  their  fears.  There  is  what  seems  to  neu- 
tralize the  tokens  of  benevolence.  How  can  the  sinner,  con- 
scious that  he  is  against  God,  rid  himself  of  the  idea  that 
God  is  against  him  ?  Looking  through  the  medium  of  a 
troubled  conscience,  how  can  he  see  the  God  of  love  in  any 
thing  ?  But  as  we  may  now  look  into  the  face  of  Immanuel, 
are  we  obliged  to  look  at  God  through  guilt  and  fear  ?  must 
we  always  find  dark  powers  in  the  trials  of  life  ?  To  be  rid 
of  all  such  feelings  we  must  find  God,  not  only  as  kind,  lovely, 
but  as  Love  itself,  and  as  love  working  all  His  works. 
Above,  beyond  all  works  of  power,  God  has  had  His  eye  on 
the  Cross  to  be  set  up  for  us. 

He  with  such  power.  He  with  such  wisdom.  He  with  such 
goodness,  did  in  the  beginning  purpose  to  come  in  person  to 
show  us  that  He  made  all — manages  all,  in  love.  What> 
ever  long  ages  He  took  to  fit  up  this  world  for  moral  beings, 
they  were  ages  in  which  love  was  working  for  us.  Hear  the 
wonderful  words:  '■^  Froin  before  the  foundation  of  the  tvorld, 
He  loved  us.'"  The  love  that  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  in  the  foundation  of  the  world  was  working  for  us  ; 
the  love  that  endured  the  cross  for  us,  that  now  reigns  and 
intercedes  for  us  ;  that  same  love  appoints  our  discipline — 
every  trial,  every  cross — in  all  aiming  to  bring  us  to  the 
highest  possible  human  experience  of  God,  as  love,  in  the 
heart.     With  this  revelation,  this  experience  of  God,  the  soul. 


19 

even  in  darkest  hours,  moves  in  the  clear  light  of  Divine  love ; 
amid  greatest  troubles  rests  in  sweet  peace  on  the  calm  ocean 
of  Infinite  Love. 

See  n<nv  to  regard  the  ivant  of  enjoyment  in  Grod. 

Though  not  now  happy  in  God,  many  think  they  shall  be 
hereafter,  because  He  is  Love.  Is  He  not  Love  now  ?  Why 
not  happy  in  God  now  ?  Why  no  happy  communings  with 
Him,  as  of  a  living  soul  with  a  living  God  ?  Surrounded  on 
all  sides  witli  the  full  ocean  of  Divine  blessings,  is  your  soul 
still  athirst  ?  Why  ?  Because  estranged  from  God  :  and,  so 
remaining,  you  must  thirst  forever.  The  simple  fact  that 
God  is  love  does  not  now  make  you  happy,  and  may  never  make 
you  happy.  Not  to  love  God  in  Christ,  not  to  know  in  -your 
heart  that  He  is  love,  is  to  be  not  happy. 

The  hearts  great  need — a  discovery  of  God  in  Christ. 

What  awful  forms  the  gods  of  the  human  mind  assume  ! 
Some  Moloch,  Beelzebub,  Mars,  Kali.  Gods  of  blood,  lust, 
wrath.  Images  shocking  stand  for  ideas  more  shocking. 
Even  now,  what  ideas  of  God!  Gods  of  war  of  some  name, 
demons  of  some  shape,  malignants  of  some  kind.  Even  in 
the  civilized  world  some  law,  some  j>rinciple,  abstraction,  im- 
personality ;  sometliing  distant,  cold,  dead — such  are  the  gods  of 
reason,  of  philosophy.  Or  the  universe  robbed  of  God  and 
then  called  God — empty,  cold,  soulless  Pantheism — leaving 
the  soul  of  man  empty,  cold,  dead  !  In  Christian  as  in 
heathen  lands,  to  how  many  is  the  God  of  love  "  unknown  !  " 
To  all  unrenewed  hearts  He  is  the  "unknown."  Not  till 
turned  from  all  forms  of  idolatry,  not  till  we  find  God  in 
Christ  Jesus,  can  we  know  the  God  of  love.  But  alas  !  how 
many  find  nothing  in  Christ  to  admire,  nothing  to  trust, 
nothing  to  love.  Dear  friends,  God  in  Christ  comes  to  you, 
seeks  you,  longs  to  be  recognized,  loved.  Open  your  hearts, 
let  the  Holy  Spirit  reveal  our  Lord  Jesus  to  your  hearts,  that 
you  may  joyfully  exclaim,  "  My  Lord  !  my  God  !  " 


20 


See  How  to  regard  the  means  used  to  hring  us  to  Christ. 

They  are  not  the  arbitrary  arrangements  of  one  with  no 
living  interest  in  us.  They  are  the  expressions  of  love.  In 
them  the  yearning  heart  of  God  is  seeking  our  hearts.  At 
this  moment  He  draws  near  to  you.  Do  all  hearts  open  with 
a  welcome  ?  The  fable  is  that  the  Rocky  lips  of  Memnon 
moved  in  music  at  the  first  touch  of  the  morning  beams.  The 
story  is  that  as  Florence  Nightingale  performed  her  midnight 
ministrations  in  Crimean  hospitals,  the  grateful  lips  of  suffering 
soldiers  kissed  her  shadow  as  it  quietly  passed  over  their  pil- 
lows. The  record  is  that  in  Jerusalem  many,  moved  by  the 
wonders  of  love  wrought  by  the  Apostles,  brought  their  sick 
and  laid  them  in  beds  in  the  streets,  that  at  least  the  shadow 
of  Peter  passing  by,  might  fall  on  some  of  them.  And  should 
not  the  shadow  of  Immanuel,  falling  on  us,  move  our  hearts  to 
love  and  our  lips  to  praise  ?  That  shadow,  in  this  service, 
passes  over  you,  rests  upon  you  now.  Nay,  not  the  shadow ; 
the  Lord  is  here. 

God  in  Christ  comes  near,  breathes  out  His  love  over  us. 
At  this  moment  the  Lord  Jesus  reveals  the  great  proof  of 
His  love — His  Ci-oss.  Behold  it !  behold  it !  At  this  moment 
God  the  Spirit,  moving  on  our  hearts,  would  breathe  into 
them  the  breath  of  life.  In  ways  numberless  Love  Infinite 
seeks  all  our  hearts.  O,  yield  to  the  power  of  Infinite  Love, 
open  your  hearts  to  it,  welcome  it,  be  folded  to  its  bosom, 
be  warmed  to  life  by  it,  find  your  bliss  in  it.     Will  you  ? 

Or  must  the  very  God  of  love  turn  away  from  you  ?  The 
Lord  of  life  banished  from  your  heart !  Remember !  the 
same  love  that  calls  to  life,  tells  of  death.  The  same  love 
that  wept  over  Jerusalem,  left  it  to  its  doom.  The  same  love 
that  will  say, "  come  ye  blessed,"  will  say, "  depart  ye  cursed." 

Which  utterance,  dear  friends,  shall  we  hear,  "  come,"  or 
<' depart?"  Which?  What  do  our  hearts  now  say  to  God, 
"  come,"  or  "  depart  ?  "  If  in  love  we  say,  come,  come,  be 
mine,  come  fill  me,  come  reign  in  me,  then  shall  we  hear 


21 

the  glad  welcome,  "  come  ye  blessed ! "      0,  the  joy,  the 
glory  of  tliat  welcome  ! 

But  if  any  heart  can  say  to  the  God  of  love,  and  persist  in 
saying,  "  depart,  depart  from  me,"  then,  0  then,  must  you, 
poor  soul,  hear  the  same  words — your  own  words — "  depart ; 
depart  from  me  !  " 


22 


REMARKS    OF   REV.    DR.    BODWELL    AT   THE 
SACRAMENT. 


After  fitting  allusion  to  tlic  Scripture  read,  and  the  insti- 
tution of  this  supper  by  our  blessed  Lord,  he  continued  sub- 
stantially'as  follows : 

"  I  am  most  unwilling  to  disturl)  the  impression  wliich  was 
made  on  all  our  minds  by  the  very  beautiful  and  appropriate 
discourse  of  my  dear  brother  and  early  friend,  but  in  compli- 
ance with  the  request  of  your  Pastor,  I  will  give  you,  briefly, 
some  of  my  recollections  of  former  deacons  of  this  church, 
who  have  long  since  gone  to  their  rest.  I  see  them  still,  as 
they  moved  with  solemn  step  along  the  aisles  of  the  old  meet- 
inghouse, distributing  the  sacramental  l)read  and  wine.  Some 
of  them  were  accustomed  to  sit  always  in  the  "  deacons'  pew," 
directly  under  and  in  front  of  the  high  pulpit.  One  of  these 
was  Dea.  Simeon  Moulton,  of  very  dark  hair  and  eyes,  and 
pale,  consumptive  face,  who  impressed  me  as  a  quiet  and  a 
reverend -man.     He  died  when  I  was  still  a  child. 

Dea.  Benjamin  Philbrick  sat  by  his  side ;  a  man  whose 
high  conscientiousness  and  sweet  Cln-istian  simplicity,  and 
strong  attachment  to  the  House  of  God,  some  of  us  well  re- 
member. Though  lie  lived  so  far  away,  no  summer  heat 
nor  winter  cold  could  keep  him  from  the  Sabbath  service,  the 
monthly  concert  on  the  first  Monday  afternoon  of  each  month, 
and  the  preparatory  lecture.  Hardly  was  his  natural  strength 
abated  at  ninety  years  of  age.  Certainly  his  intellect  was 
clear,  and  his  affection  for  this  church,  and  his  concern  for 
its  spiritual  prosperity  were  strong  to  tlie  last. 


23 

A  worthy  associate  of  these  two  good  men,  Moiilton  and 
Philbrick,  was  Dea.  Joseph  Hanhorn.  He  was  a  man  of  rare 
endowments,  of  strong  iniderstanding,  Mith  a  love  of  BibHcal 
study,  an  easy  command  of  words,  an  habitually  devout  and 
reverent  sj)irit,  and  a  voice  of  unusual  depth  and  richness. 
His  gift  in  prayer  was  marvellous.  How  often  did  I  hear  the 
remark  made  by  strangers  wlio  listened  to  him,  '  That  man 
ought  to  have  been  a  preacher.' 

One  other  man  who  '  used  the  office  of  deacon  well '  in 
this  church,  and  whom  I  love  to  remember,  was  the  upright, 
generous,  and  fearless  Moses  Emery  ;  of  warm  sympathies 
and  an  unswerving  prol)ity,  ready  to  every  good  work.  I  seem 
to  hear  still  his  voice  in  the  i»rayer-meeting,  whose  i>eculiar 
tone  ex[)ressed  so  well  the  sincerity  and  earnestness  of  his 
spirit. 

Such  wen-  Ibc  good  men  whose  united  terms  of  office  cov- 
ered the  entire  j)eri()d  from  my  earliest  recollection  to  the 
linic  when  I  left  my  pleasant  home  to  enter  college.  The  fra- 
grance of  their  good  names  abides  with  us  still.  How  im- 
pressive was  the  scene  to  me,  even  as  a  child,  when  those 
men,  with  my  beloved  and  honored  father,  ministered  in  this 
solemn  sacramental  service.  Would  that  the  mantle  of  Ihcii- 
deej)  sincerity  did  more  truly  icsf  upon  »is  all  !" 


24 


REMARKS  OF  REV.  MR.  PERKINS  AT  THE 
SACRAMENT. 


After  alluding  to  the  sketches  just  given  by  Mr.  Bodwell, 
"  as  pictures  passed  before  us,"  he  remarked  that  could  we 
have  all  the  scenes  and  characters  of  the  century  unrolled 
before  us  in  one  panoramic  view,  we  should  have,  with  what- 
ever sombre  shades  and  even  dark  colors,  also  many  illumin- 
ated scenes  and  characters  shining  with  Divine  brightness. 

The  fact  was  then  emphasized  that  the  reason  why  this  his- 
tory is  not  all  dark,  is  to  be  found  in  the  great  truth  consid- 
ered in  the  morning,  that  every  bright  scene  and  illuminated 
page  in  all  this  history  of  one  hundred  years,  written  or  un- 
written, that  every  blessed  influence  and  transformation, 
every  comfort  and  hope  ;  that  all  the  good  that  has  brightened 
and  gladdened  personal  histories  among  these  liills  and  val- 
leys, had  come  from  the  one  original  fountain — the  God  of 
love  through  Jesus  Christ. 

Reference  was  made  to  the  fact  that  this  church  has  been 
signally  blessed  in  its  ministers,  having  in  each  just  the  man 
for  his  time,  and  in  having  them  all  live  among  their  people 
till  death.  Mention  was  made  of  "  Father  Bodwell  "  as  the 
man  of  whom  all  his  parishioners,  for  fifty  years,  said, 
"  Blessed  are  the  peace-makers  !  "  A  hearty  tribute  was  paid 
to  his  successor,  Mr.  Boutwell,  with  an  account  of  his  last 
Sabbath — how,  as  he  was  borne  to  the  church  in  extreme  fee- 
bleness, and  during  all  the  services,  especially  as  he  read  from 
the  17th  chapter  of  John,  partook  of  the  memorials  of  our 
Lord's  death,  and  read  the  Hymn, 

"  We  speak  of  the  realms  of  the  blest ; " 


25 

he  seemed  to  be  filled  with  blessed  anticipations  and  l)right 
visions  of  those  realms,  and  to  enter  with  deep  meaning  into 
the  lines, 

"  And  shortly  I  also  shall  know 
And  feel,  what  it  is  to  be  there." 

In  illustration  of  the  blessed  work  of  the  gospel  in  this 
church,  one  of  its  noble  women  was  called  to  mind — the 
speaker's  grandmother  Sanborn — a  woman  whose  large  heart 
and  generous  sympathies  were  ever  active  in  ministering  to 
the  needy,  the  sick,  and  suflcring ;  a  beloved  member  of  this 
church  for  seventy-five  years,  the  wife  of  "  the  beloved  physi- 
cian," and  to  the  end  of  her  long  life  of  ninety-six  years,  blest 
with  an  active  mind  and  a  cheerful  spirit,  which  to  the  last, 
shed  over  this  community  most  happy  and  blessed  influences. 
Only  a  few  years  before  her  death,  when  telling  how  much 
she  enjoyed  reading  the-  gospel  by  John,  she  said,  "  I  read 
twelve  cha|)tcrs  right  off  the  other  day."  Allusion  was  made 
to  her  bearing  at  a  time  of  great  and  sudden  bereavement,  by 
the  drowning  of  her  oldest  son.  Col.  Christopher  Sanborn. 
Speaking  of  that  allliction  many  years  afterwards,  she  said, 
with  all  the  animation  of  youth,  "  Why,  Frederic,  the  Son  of 
Man  was  Vith  me  as  I  walked  my  room,  in  the  great  sorrow 
of  my  heart,  as  really  and  as  distinctly  as  you  are  now." 

Blessed  woman  !  Clear  and  bright  to  the  last!  And  when 
her  speech  and  sigiii  had  failed,  she  expressed  her  joy  in  the 
fjoid  by  :in  eager,  upward  ga/c,  and  by  clapping  her  feeble 
hands,  till  she  "  entered  in  tiirough  the  gates  into  the  city  " 
of  our  God. 

What  the  value  of  the  grace  of  Christ  to  her  during  her 
long  life!  What  the  measure  of  comfort  and  of  joy  to  all 
who  here  have  believed  in  the  Lord  and  have  gone  or  are  on 
their  way  to  the  Better  Land  ! 

Mr.  Perkins  made  brief  but  grateful  mention  of  the  great 
revival  in  1816,  when  his  mother  was  converted,  and  to  that 
of  I80I,  when  he  bowed  to  the  liord.  The  ages  endless  will 
reveal  more  and  more  of  the  blessed  work  of  God  here  dur- 
ing the  century  now  past. 
4 


26 

To  excite  a  thought  of  the  value  of  what  has  come  to  the 
community  through  the  church,  the  supposition  was  raised 
that  all  that  the  Gospel  has  put  into  the  history  of  the  town 
were  taken  out  of  it ;  and  it  was  maintained  that  but  for  the 
church  of  Christ,  the  history  of  the  town — if  history  it  could 
have  had — would  have  been  the  history  of  men  roaming  over 
these  hills  in  the  wildness  of  barbarism,  and  these  acres  of 
earth  now  fertile  would  have  remained  wild  and  worthless. 
An  appeal  was  made  to  Christians  to  make  the  future  of  the 
church  better  than  the  past,  and  all  were  called  upon  to  con- 
sider the  value  of  the  church  of  God  to  a  community,  and  to 
understand  their  place  and  duty  in  regard  to  it. 


27 


HISTORICAL  ADDRESS. 


The  glory  of  New  England  has  l)ccn  its  Christian  men. 
They  came  to  a  wilderness  and  changed  it  to  a  garden  of 
God.  The  ronghness  of  its  climate  and  wildness  of  its 
scenery,  were  far  hotter  suited  to  the  mettle  of  those  heroic 
souls  than  the  siumy  fields  of  the  south.  It  was  a  concinnity 
such  as  God  delights  in  ;  a  combination  by  Ilis  foreordaining 
Providence,  out  of  which  grandest  results  have  been  wrought, 
far  less  in  a  great  material  prosperity,  in  the  productiveness 
of  the  soil  under  inclement  skies,  and  the  beauty  of  multitu- 
dinous villages  and  cities,  than  in  the  production  of  men, 
whose  influence  is  felt  to-day,  not  only  wherever  a  Christian 
civilization  is  known,  but  (]uite  beyonil  the  bounds  of  civili- 
zation, to  Ihe  uttermost  ends  of  the  earth.  It  is  obvious  to 
remark  how  the  brave  spirits  of  the  men  have  grappled  with 
almost  unparalleled  i)hysical  obstacles,  and  subdued  them  ;  but 
is  it  not  just  as  true  that  those  very  difficulties  have  developed 
in  the  men  a  measure  of  intellectual  and  moral  power  which, 
without  the  struggle  with  those  difticnlties,  they  never  could 
have  possessed  ?  Our  great  statesman,  Daniel  Webster,  ut- 
tered a  truth  of  which  God  is  directly  the  author,  when,  in 
reply  to  the  sneering  imiuiry  of  a  conceited  son  of  the  south, 
"  What  has  New  Hampshire  produced  ? "  he  proudly  an- 
swered, "  Granite  and  men  !  " 

The  names  which  New  Hampshire  has  given  to  the  pages 
of  history,  in  jurisprudence,  and  statesmanship,  and  theology, 


28 

and  education,  and  literature,  are  such  as  her  sons  will  never 
have  reason  to  be  ashamed  of.  And  yet,  in  a  grand  summing 
up  of  the  fruits  which  have  come  of  the  labors  and  sacrifices 
of  the  Christian  men  who  have  made  New  England,  must 
we  not  admit  immeasurably  the  largest  aggregate  result  in 
the  quiet  godly  lives  of  that  vast  multitude  of  men  and  wo- 
men whose  names  have  hardly  been  pronounced  outside  the 
boundaries  of  their  own  town,  or  the  fellowship  of  their  own 
church. 

This  world  was  made  for  Jesus  Christ ;  "  by  Him  and  for 
Him,"  an  inspired  Apostle  says.  The  end  will  be  accom- 
plished when  His  elect  of  all  the  nations  shall  be  gathered 
into  His  everlasting  spiritual  kingdom.  Then  the  last  will 
be  first  and  the  first  last.  That  which  men  call  glory  now 
will  then  disappear  forever,  like  tlie  temples  and  palaces  of  a 
great  city  swept  by  tlie  devouring  fire. 

It  is  true,  at  the  same  time,  that  Christianity  is  the  grand 
source  of  whatever  is  most  valuable  in  the  present  life,  and 
according  to  present  earthly  standards.  For  almost  twenty 
centuries  it  has  supplied  the  most  steady  and  healthful  stimu- 
lus to  all  the  industries  which  have  built  cities,  and  spanned 
rivers,  and  enlarged  the  domain  of  science,  and  brouglit  na- 
tions into  those  intimate  relations  of  commerce  which  are  the 
surest  guarantee  of  peace ;  constituting,  meanwhile,  most 
beautiful  of  all,  innumerable  homes  of  rest,  and  love,  and 

joy- 
Does  not  the  history  of  your  town  during  the  first  century 
of  its  existence,  furnish  a  continuous  illustration  of  these 
truths  ?  As  we  look  back  to-day  through  the  period  of  a 
hundred  years,  what,  in  your  estimation,  have  been  the  things 
of  chiefest  value  in  all  that  time  among  the  hills  and  valleys 
which  combine  to  make  up  the  unsurpassed  natural  beauty  of 
this  town  of  Sanbornton  ?  There  can  be  but  one  answer : 
its  churches  and  its  Christian  homes.  Take  these  away  and 
nothing  would  remain  worth  remembering.  All  the  rest 
would  be  of  hardly  more  value  than  the  Indian  relics  which 
are  occasionally  found  in  plowing  up  its  soil. 

The  organization  of  the  first  church,  therefore,  and  the  set- 


29 

tiement  of  the  first  minister,  one  hnndred  years  ago,  were 
evonts  of  deeper  interest  and  sii^nificance,  than  the  incor- 
poration of  tlie  town.  On  the  first  day  of  March,  1770,  San- 
bornton  was  incorporated  as  part  of  the  great  empire  of  His 
Britisli  ^rujcsty,  (Jeorge  III.,  and  tlic  first  town  meeting  was 
held  under  his  appointment  and  royal  permission,  on  some 
day  between  that  first  of  Marcli  and  the  tenth  day  of  the 
May  next  following.  This  was  in  the  house  of  Lieut.  Chase 
Taylor,  father  of  the  lion.  Nathan  Taylor,  the  first  house 
built  in  Sanbornton,  and  occupied  to-day  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Taylor,  great-grandson  of  its  builder  and  first  occupant. 

No  record  of  that  first  town-meeting  remains,  although  the 
room  in  which  it  was  held  is  still  shown.  From  subsequent 
records  we  learn  that  Aaron  Sanborn,  Cole  Weeks,  and  Ste- 
phen Gale  were  there  and  then  elected  first  selectmen  of 
the  town  ;  an  event  of  interest  to  us,  forasmuch  as  for  many 
years  aflcr  the  incorporation  of  Sanbornton  no  more  inijjor- 
tiint  business  was  transacted  by  the  selectmen  tlum  that 
which  pertained  to  the  churcii  of  God.  From  the  day  on 
which  those  Christian  men,  whose  names  we  venerate  as  the 
fathers  of  our  town,  first  i)enetrated  the  nolde  forests  which 
then  crowned  all  these  njagnificent  hills,  their  primary  con- 
cern was  for  a  minister  and  a  meeting-house,  a  church  of  liv- 
ing members,  and  stated  Christian  ordinances,  for  themselves 
and  for  us,  their  posterity.  Acconhngly,  at  the  second  town- 
meeting,  held  on  Tuesday,  March  :2i),  1771,  in  the  house  of 
Daniel  Sanborn,  subsequently,  with  enlargement,  for  many 
years  the  residence  of  Dr.  Benaiah  Sanborn,  and  now  occu- 
pied ]»y  Mr.  Thomas  M.  Jaques,  a  very  important  item  of 
business  was  the  passing  of  a  vote  "  to  apjjoint  and  clear  a 
place  for  a  meeting-house  this  year ;  to  set  said  house  on  ye 
center  range  line,  near  ye  main  rode  ;  to  l)uiUl  it  l)y  ye  sale  of 
ye  pews,  and  according  to  ye  i>lan  drawn  of  ye  same ;  to  put  up 
ye  frame  and  cover  it  within  2  year  from  May  next,  and 
chuse  a  committee  to  vandue  of  ye  pews  and  stutf  for  build- 
ing said  house." 

The  history  of  the  building  of  that  first  meeting-house  on  the 
hill,  which  some  of  us  so  well  remember,  would  make  a  deeply 


30 

interesting  chapter  in  the  annals  of  Sanbornton.  Howthe  forests 
rang  with  the  stiurdj  strokes  of  the  axe,  startling  the  bears  and 
wolves  then  so  numerous ;  how,  on  the  appointed  day,  the  in- 
habitants of  the  neighboring  towns  came  to  help  at  the  rais- 
ing, and  then  how,  in  the  poverty  of  the  people,  the  necessity 
of  incessant  toil  in  clearing  away  the  forests  and  ploughing 
and  planting  for  their  own  sustenance,  and  the  absence  of 
some  of  their  best  men  to  fight  in  our  country's  great  battle 
for  liberty,  the  work  went  slowly  on  for  a  series  of  years,  and 
the  first  minister,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Woodman,  preached  in  it 
to  those  noble-hearted  men  and  their  noble-hearted  wives 
through  summer's  heat  and  winter's  cold,  when  it  had  no 
pulpit  and  no  pews,  and  was  less  comely  in  its  exterior,  and 
less  comfortable  within,  than  the  barns  of  some  of  you  are 
to-day — these  are  things  which  our  fathers  told  us,  and  which 
may  be  gleaned  from  the  early  records  of  the  town. 

It  need  occasion  us  little  surprise  that  the  vote  passed  on 
the  26th  of  March,  1771,  was  not  carried  into  effect.  Wheth- 
er they  managed  to  "  appoint  and  clear  a  place  for  a  meet- 
ing-house "  that  year,  we  do  not  know :  but  it  is  quite  cer- 
tain that  they  failed  to  "  put  up  ye  frame  and  cover  it,  within 
2  year  from  May  next."  The  delay,  however,  only  made 
them  the  more  resolute,  for,  nearly  three  years  later,  on  the 
thirteenth  day  of  December,  1773,  a  special  town- meeting 
was  called  for  the  sole  object  of  taking  further  measures  for 
building  and  "  compleating  "  the  meeting-house.  The  hearts 
of  our  fathers  were  resolute  on  that  cold  December  day,  as 
they  looked  on  each  other's  faces  in  one  of  the  large,  unfin- 
ished rooms,  as  we  suppose,  of  Daniel  Sanborn's  house,  with-, 
in  a  stone's  throw  of  the  spot  where  we  are  now  assembled. 
They  prayed,  doubtless,  then  deliberated,  and  looking  wist- 
fully toward  the  hill  where,  aecording  to  their  former  action, 
the  frame  of  the  meeting-house  should  have  been  put  up  and 
covered  in  more  than  six  months  before,  they  stoutly  resolved 
"to  build  the  m.  h.  on  an  entirely  new  plan,  viz:  sixty  feet 
in  length  by  -iH  feet  in  wedth,and  to  build  36  pews  below  as 
by  said  plan  ;  to  choose  a  committee  to  vandue  off  ye  pews 
and  stuff,  and  to  build  said  house  as  far  as  said  pews  will  go, 


31 

with  je  money  that  je  proprietors  of  the  town  have  and  shall 
vote  for  said  house  ;  "  also  that  •'  the  meeting-house  akriU  he 
rained^  boarded,  shingled,  and  ye  lower  flowers  laid,  and  ye 
lower  part  of  ye  house  glassed,  by  the  first  of  November, 
1774;  that  the  house  ahall  l>efinislied  so  far  as  the  pew  money 
shall  go  towards  it  by  November  1, 1775  :  "  and,  finally,  "that 
all  ve  stuff  for  ye  frame  shall  be  brought  to  ye  meeting-house 
green  by  ye  last  of  April  next,  and  ye  lx)ards.  shingles,  and 
other  covering  by  ye  last  of  September  next." 

Is  it  not  strange,  when  we  remember  the  circumstances  of 
that  dark  and  perilous  time,  that  our  fathers  had  tlie  courage 
to  resolve  on  so  much  ?  That  they  found  it  simply  impos- 
sible to  accomplisli  all  they  marked  out  in  the  time  specified, 
we  can  easily  Ijelieve. 

At  the  town-meeting  of  1777,  one  vote  passed  was  "  -^50  of 
ye  money  in  ye  selectmen's  hands  to  Ix;  laid  out  on  ye  meet- 
ing-house this  year."  On  the  following  New  Year's  day, 
namely,  on  the  first  of  January,  1778,  the  town  met  for  the 
first  time  in  tlie  new  meeting-house,  and  there  all  the  town- 
meetings  of  Sanbomton  were  held  for  almost  half  a  century, 
till  the  year  1><34,  when  the  town  declined  to  repair  the  house, 
and  surrendered  it,  by  a  vote,  to  the  proprietorship  of  this 
Society.  Evidently  the  liouse  was  exceeding  bare  and  com- 
fortless on  tliat  New  Year's  day,  1778,  for  it  is  recorded  that 
on  the  26tli  of  March,  1782,  it  wa.s  voted  "  to  get  thirteen  thou- 
sand of  claboard  nails,  and  one  liundred  feet  of  glass,  for  the 
meeting-house  ;  also,  2000  shingle  tens,  and  one  thousand 
double  tens."  One  year  and  a  half  later  it  was  '*  voted  to 
finish  ye  gallery  in  ye  meeting-house,"  and  "  to  build  seven 
pews  at  each  end  of  sd  gallery,  and  six  pews  on  ye  fore  side, 
to  Ije  equally  divided  as  to  length,  and  to  be  5i  feet  %nde 
^vithin  board." 

On  the  23d  of  June,  1783,  a  special  town-meeting  was 
held  in  accordance  with  the  warrant  of  the  constable,  to  set- 
tle "  disputes  "  that  had  arisen  "  concerning  some  of  ye  pews 
in  ye  meeting-house,"  and  a  seat  for  the  children  was  voted 
in  "  an  ally  of  two  feet  and  four  inches  wide." 

During  all  this  time,  though  they  had  had  a  settled  minister 


32 

twelve  years,  and  had  helped  generously  in  the  building  of 
his  house,  there  was  no  pulpit  in  their  meeting-house,  for  at 
a  special  town-meeting  held  August  15,  1785,  Lieut.  Chase, 
Ens.  True,  and  Ens.  Nathaniel  Grant  were  chosen  a  commit- 
tee to  build  a  pulpit  with  the  money  which  had  been  raised 
for  the  building  of  the  pews,  and  they  were  instructed  to 
build  it  by  the  March  meeting  of  the  following  year.  It  was 
not  their  fault  that  when  the  fathers  assembled  at  that  March 
meeting  they  saw  no  pulpit  in  their  meeting-house,  or  at  least 
only  one  that  was  partly  finished,  for  at  that  meeting,  March 
28,  1786,  the  same  committee  was  re-appointed,  with  instruc- 
tions to  finish  the  pulpit  by  the  first  of  October  following,  as 
far  as  the  money  raised  for  the  pews  would  do  it.  AVe  may 
believe  that  in  that  year,  1786,  the  good  people  of  Sanborn- 
ton  had  the  inexpressible  pleasure,  on  some  briglit  Sunday,  to 
see  the  minister  who  had  been  with  them  fifteen  years,  and 
.baptized  their  children,  and  buried  their  dead,  ascend  to  that 
high  pulpit,  which  had  been  so  long  in  building,  and  to  praise 
its  beauty  as  they  returned  to  their  homes ;  for  in  August  of 
the  very  next  year  the  town  "  voted  to  build  two  pews  at 
west  end  of  men's  seats,  on  lower  floor,  in  lower  part  of 
meeting-house,  and  two  pews  at  east  end  of  women's  seats ; 
about  six  feet  square,  the  selectmen  to  sell  said  pews  and 
procure  ye  pay."  A  strange  picture,  as  it  seems  to  us,  that 
congregation  must  have  presented  to  the  good  minister,  as  lie 
looked  upon  them  from  his  high  pulpit  painted  thick  of  a 
deep  mahogany  color,  the  men  by  themselves  at  one  end,  and 
the  women  by  themselves  at  the  other  end,  with  a  seat  for 
the  children  "  in  an  ally  of  two  feet  and  four  inches  wide." 

So  far  as  the  records  inform  us,  we  are  led  to  suppose  that 
during  these  first  years  the  care  of  the  meeting-house  was  no 
expense  to  the  town.  But  this  could  not  be  expected  to  last 
always,  albeit  no  lighting  and  tending  of  fires  was  included, 
and  accordingly  we  find  it  recorded  that  on  the  5th  day  of 
April,  1790,  the  town  "  voted  James  Sanl)orn  to  keep  key  of 
the  meeting-house,  and  to  sweep  said  house,  at  one  dollar  per 
year." 

For  the  next  ton  years  after  the  pulpit  was  finished,  reso- 


33 

liitioiis  were  passed  fVom  time  to  time,  tor  lathing-  and  plas- 
tering, shingling,  "•  painting  the  rongh,"  and  underpinning, 
till  the  last  stone  was  placed  under  the  heavy  sill  ol"  the  back 
or  north  side,  in  the  y<*ar  17i>T.  At  the  same  time  they 
voted  not  to  "'  huild  a  sieeple  and  porcli  thf  present  year," 
and  that,  as  we  know,  was  never  done.  Tiuit  much  good 
preaching  and  praying  was  done  in  that  homely  and  unfin- 
ished meeting-house  on  the  hill,  it  is  impossiljle  to  doubt. 
We  can  as  easily  believe  that  the  songs  of  Zion  had  no  mean 
rendering  in  the  trumj»et  tones  of  the  men  who  leveled  the 
forests,  and  the  full  rich  treble  of  their  wives  and  daughters, 
witli  the  accompaniment  of  stringed  instiuments,  which  our 
fathers  were  skilled  to  phiy.  liong  slips  were  made  for  their 
special  accommodation,  running  from  east  to  west  on  the 
ground  floor,  and  near  the  centre  of  the  house.  There,  till 
the  last  year  of  the  century,  they  stood  u|»  in  the  midst  of 
the  worshipping  assemlily,  and,  with  heait  ;ind  voice,  poured 
forth  ()hl  llnndied  and  Ilaniltuig.  and  Lenox,  and  Noith- 
fit'hl.  On  tb:it  last  yeai' of  the  century,  thi;  town  <lecided  to 
give  tlicm  a  place  better  suited  to  the  valuable  services  they 
rendered.  On  the  7th  of  May,  ITTU,  it  was  "  voted  to  sell 
the  singing  |)ews  on  the  lloor  in  the  town  meeting-house,* 
and  build  a  singing  [jew  in  the  gallery,  the  front  seats  in  gal- 
lery to  be  used  foj"  a  singing  |iew," 

Some  of  us  rememltoi-  well  those  long  jm-ws  in  lV(jnt  of  the 
pulpit  on  the  llooi-  of  the  house.  One  of  them  was  occupied 
by  Esq.  Jeremiah  S.iiiliorn,  another  by  Matthew  Perkins, 
Esq. 

Nothing  farther  appears  on  record  in  relation  to  Hnishing 
the  meeting-house.  We  may  reasonably  conclude  that  it  was 
completed  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  from  that  troul)lous 
day  on  which  some  of  our  fathers  hastily  left  the  fivamiug  to 
join  their  eoniiades  in  arms  at  Lexington,  'i'lie  wonder  is, 
that  it  was  aceoni|»lislied  in  so  short  a  time  as  twenty-five 
years.  For  it  must  be  remembered  that  they  were  battling 
with  the  wilderness  all  the  while,  and  l»earing  their  lull  share 
in  the  struggle  for  national  existence  ;  and  all  the  while  they 
were  making  annual   appropriations   for  the  construction  of 


34 

roads  and  the  building  of  bridges  and  pounds  ;  for  the  education 
of  their  children,  and  for  bounties  for  the  killing  of  wolves 
which  destroyed  their  sheep. 

Thei-e  is  a  man  still  with  us*  who  has  lived  eighty-seven 
years  in  Sanborn  ton  from  his  birth,  and  who  well  remembers 
how  he  and  his  brother  Chase  used  to  dread  to  go  only  a 
little  distance  from  the  house  to  fetch  the  sheep  home  at  eve- 
ning, and  how  the  night  was  made  hideous  by  the  howling  of 
the  wolves  congregated  in  packs  near  the  spot  where  the  liark 
mill  and  tan-pits  afterward  were. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  generously  our  fathers  taxed 
tliemselves  for  the  education  of  their  children  in  those  stern 
and  troublous  times.  They  believed  in  the  peculiar  blessed- 
ness of  having  children,  in  great  numbers,  and  so  did  their 
wives,  and  it  was  well  for  Sanborntoii  and  for  us  that  they 
did  :  for  a  nol)l(U"  race  of  men  and  women  we  may  not  often 
see,  than  the  children  born  in  those  days  grew  to  be.  It  was 
a  good  day  for  Sanbornton,  and  many  of  us  remember  it  well, 
when  all  these  houses,  large  and  small,  were  full  of  children, 
and  all  the  school-houses  in  the  town  could  hardly  contain 
them  in  winter,  when  the  large  boys  and  girls  could  be 
spared  to  attend.  Will  it  ever  again  be  said  of  Sanbornton, 
as  it  was  said  of  old  Jerusalem,  after  the  return  from  the 
long  captivity,  that  the  streets  are  '^  full  of  girls  and  boys  play- 
ing in  the  streets  thereof"? 

Let  us  see  what  was  done  to  educate  our  grandfathers 
and  grandmothers  when  they  were  children.  At  tlu;  annual 
March  meeting  held  twenty-four  days  before  the  fii'st  anniversary 
of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  Thirty  Dollars  were  raised  "■  fur 
to  hier  a  school,"  and  one  hundred  dollars  for  the  roads. 
The  year  following,  1777,  they  voted  ''  forty  dollars,  in  addi- 
tion to  what  was  raised  last  year  for  a  school."  Two  years 
later  they  voted  to  raise  three  hundred  dollars  for  a  school, 
and  four  hundred  days'  works  for  the  roads.  In  1781  it  was 
"  15  pounds  old  way  so-called,  for  to  hire  schooling  this 
year."  No  mention  is  made  of  school  districts,  or  school 
masters.  The  wdiole  town  was  one  district,  and  Master  Per- 
kins was  teacher  of  the  town.     Havins;  received  his  own  edu- 


*  John  Perkins,  grand-son  of  "  Master  Perkins. 


•iO 


cation,  wliicli  included  readingand  writing,  nothing  more,  from 
Gen.  Sullivan's  lather,  an  Irishman,  Master  Perkins  taught 
the  boys  and  girls  of  all  the  town  to  read  and  write,  for  the 
space  of  forty  years.  He  went  about  keeping  .school,  as  some 
good  men  whom  we  remember  went  about  cleaning  our  fath- 
ers' stately  eight-day  clocks.  In  the  house  of  Daniel  Sanborn, 
doubtless,  where  the  town-meetings,  as  we  have  seen,  weie 
held  ;  in  the  meeting-house  on  the  hill,  when  it  was  in  a  very 
rude  unlinishcd  state,  and  in  many  a  dwelling  throughout 
the  town.  Master  Perkins  taught  and  governed  ;  and  his  gov- 
erning was  of  a  high  onler.  Of  fine  personal  aj)|>earance, 
and  of  very  pronounced  magisterial  Itcaring,  he  walked  w  iili 
a  conscious  dignity,  to  the  movement  of  his  large  ivory- 
beaded  cane,  and,  in  flic  reverent  and  admiring  eyes  of  all  bis 
little  subjects,  was  a  lit  lepresentativc  of  George  111.  Al- 
tboiigh  of  a  stern  make,  and  accounted  severe  in  disci- 
pline, iherc  was  a  dash  of  humor  in  "  Master  P«'rkins.''  At 
a  considerably  later  day  than  his.  as  some  of  us  rememl)er,  it 
was  customaiy  in  the  summer  schools  (jf  Sanlioiuton,  [\)v  tbe 
girls  to  i)ring  their  sewing  and  knitting,  and  wben  young 
brains  were  tireil  with  severer  lalfors,  in  reading  an<l  spelling 
anil  ('olliurn's  arilbnnMic,  these  finger-crafts  were  taken  up 
under  the  direction  of  the  "school-marm.'*  One  of  those 
mothers  of  the  earlier  period,  who  was  evidently  in  advance 
of  her  times,  sent  her  little  girl  one  day  witb  •  knitting 
work,"  to  Master  Perkins'  school.  Jt  was  a  stocking  of 
goodly  size,  and  well  along  toward  tbe  jtoint  at  which  the 
heel  shotdd  lie  liegun  for  tbe  I'ormation  of  tbe  foot.  Tbe  child 
plied  bei-  liusy  liuLicrs  \'nv  a  time,  un«ler  tbe  uatcblul  and 
twinkling  eye  of  the  master,  and  then,  holding  tbe  thing  in 
her  tiny  hand,  went  timidly  up  to  him  for  instructions.  With 
utmost  gravity  be  examined  the  work,  and  told  her  to  nar- 
row it.  In  a  short  time  she  came  again,  when  the  same  di- 
rection was  repeated,  and  many  times,  and  the  upshot  was, 
as  Master  Perkins  used  to  tell  tbe  story  with  great  glee,  that 
"she  narrered  it  and  narreied  it,  till  she  narrered  it  all 
away."  Thus  ended  that  particular  stocking,  and  thus  ended 
all  "  knittin"--  work  "  in  Master  Perkins'  school. 


36 

His  teaching  and  his  useful  life  ended  together  in  the  year 
1804,  and  he  was  laid  to  his  rest  very  near  to  what  was  the 
original  Sanbornton  square.  He  ought  to  have  liad  a  grave 
in  the  burying-ground  on  the  hill,  by  the  side  of  the  first  min- 
ister ;  and  the  numerous  scholars  lie  had  taught  and  governed, 
during  that  long  period  of  forty  years,  ought  to  have  erected 
a  monument  of  granite  over  his  remains. 

Now  we  come  to  a  fact  in  the  early  history  of  this  church 
and  of  Sanbornton,  to  which  all  we  liave  been  saying  bears  a 
very  close  relation,  and  wliich  we  must  call  a  very  remarka- 
ble fact.  It  is,  that  whereas  the  building  of  tlie  first  meet- 
ing-house was  not  begun  till  the  year  177o,  and  took  twenty- 
five  years  to  the  finishing,  the  first  minister  was  settled  four 
years  before  tlie  frame  of  the  meeting-house  was  raised. 
Therein  was  the  wisdom  of  our  fathers.  They  reckoned  that 
a  settled  minister  was  better  tlmn  a  meeting-house,  and  they 
built  their  meeting-house  as  fast  as  tliey  could  pay  for  it  ;  no 
faster.  Now,  the  order  is  reversed  ;  tlie  meeting-house  is  the 
fii-st  thing,  built  with  elegaiice  and  cxpensiveness,  wliether 
paid  for  or  not — most  likely  built  with  borrowed  money — 
and  then  a  minister  is  sought,  first  and  chiefly,  to  be  a  popular 
attraction,  like  a  brilliant  lecturer,  or  a  travelling  circus,  to 
draw  a  multitude  and  pay  off  the  dei)t.  If  any  sinners  are 
converted,  that  is  all  very  well,  and  it  is,  no  doubt,  very 
strange  ;  but  it  is  not  the  end  which  the  congregations  of  our 
day  liave  in  view  when  they  choose  a  minister. 

The  first  recorded  action  looking  to  the  support  of  gospel 
ordinances,  was  at  a  meeting  of  the  Proprietors  held  in  Exe- 
ter, July  13,  1767.  It  was  then  and  there  voted,  that  "  they 
wold  raise  a  doler  on  each  rite  liabiel  to  pay  taxes  for  to  hier  " 
a  minister  "  this  present  v^ear  ;  "  and  we  read  in  that  old  re- 
cord the  familiar  names  of  Josiah  Sanborn,  Capt.  Joseph 
Hoyt,  and  Ebenezer  Sanborn,  as  a  committee  appointed  for 
the  purpose.  A  similar  vote  seems  to  have  been  passed  at 
Exeter  from  year  to  year,  till  1771,  when  our  fathers,  having 
been  incorporated  as  a  town  the  year  previous,  moved  in  good 
earnest  for  the  settlement  of  a  minister.  In  this  they  were 
encouraged  by  a  vote  of  the  Proprietors,  passed  on  the  29th 


37 

of  July,  "  tliat  $10  be  raised  on  eacli  right  liable  to  lie  taxed, 
to  assist  and  hel|)  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  in  supporting 
a  gospel  minister,  if  they  settle  one  among  tlicm/' 

We  have  no  record  of  the  nanu^s  of  the  men  who  preached 
here  amid  the  giant  forest-trees,  and  not  improbably  under 
their  dense  shadow,  when  Sanboniton  was  only  a  plantation. 
One  thing  we  do  kiit)w,  which  is,  that  they  would  not  be  satis- 
fied with  easmil,  nor  with  stated  supplies.  They  must  have  a 
settled  minister,  though  they  had  no  meeting-house,  and  could 
not  have  one  for  a  long  time  to  come.  Just  ten  days  after 
liiat  on  which  the  lil»eral  offer  of  the  Pro|)rietors  was  made, 
a  special  town-meeting  was  held,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  con- 
sidering the  proposition  to  settle  a  minister. 

1  must  ask  you   to  ci»nsi(ler  well   tjie  manifold  difficulties 
our  fadiers  were  in  wben  tbev  lield   tbat  sitecial  town-meetinir 
in  tiie  house  of  Daniel  Sanborn,  for  tlie  purpose  of  securing  a 
settled    minister,     it    is   not    nmch   to   say,  that  those  brave 
Christian    men   were  struggling   with   all  the   terrors  of  the 
wilderness,  to  found  a  home  f<»r  Ihemselves  and  tbeir  fainibes, 
working   very   hard,  living   on    the    plainest   food — beau   por- 
ridge, and  coarse  bannocks,  and  j)otato  bread  entering  largely 
info  their  cuisine  :  (dothing  themselves  in  garments  sjjun,  and 
wove,  and  cul,  and  made  up,  in  their  own  most   humlde  cots. 
The  country,  small  and  feeble  as  it  was,  made  up  of  thirteen 
colonies,  of  wbich  New  Hampshire  was  one,  was  already  in- 
volved in  that  fearful  death-.struggle   with   the    mightiest   and 
the  haughtiest  military  jiower  on  the  earth.    Tlie  odious  stamp- 
act  had  been    pass(>d    six  years    before.      iJenjamin    F'ranklin 
bad  written  home  fi-om  LoimIom   tiiat    the   sun   of  liberty    was 
set,  and  the  t(»reh  of  industry  must   be   lighted   in   every  cot- 
tage.    The   indignant    and    burning  elo(j[uence    of   Patrick 
Henry  had  raised  the  s[)irit  of  patriotism  to  blood-heat  in  the 
Assembly  of  Virginia;  blood  had  been  shed  in  Boston  in  an 
affray  between  armed  British  soldiers  and  unarmed  citizens; 
ladies  of  fashion  in  all  sections   of  the  country,  were  carding, 
spinning,  and  weaving  the  fabrics  for  their  own  dresses,  and 
mutton  was   forl/idden  to  be  eaten,  lest  the  supply  of  wool 
should  fail. 


B8 

It  was  at  such  a  time  that  our  fathers,  pressed  with  bur- 
dens and  difficulties  all  but  intoleral)le,  and  expecting  still 
worse,  met  in  special  town-meeting,  in  the  house  near  by,  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  securing  the  settlement  of  a  minister. 
What  was  the  result?  They  voted,  those  great-hearted 
Christian  men  of  Sanbornton,  "  to  give  Mr.  Joseph  Woodman 
a  call  to  settle  in  ye  gospel  ministry  in  this  town.''  Mr.  Jo- 
seph Woodman  was  a  young  man  of  fine  talents  and  educa- 
tion, a  graduate  of  Nassau  Hall,  and  at  that  time  twenty- 
three  years  of  age.  They  meant  to  have  him,  and  so  they 
also  voted,  at  the  same  meeting,  to  give  him  a  "  sallery  "  of 
two  hundred  dollars,  of  which  one  hundred  and  eighty  dol- 
lars was  to  be  in  money,  and  twenty  dollars  in  labor,  at  money 
price,  for  the  first  two  years  ;  and  afterward,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  dollars  in  money  and  eighty  dollars  in  labor.  This  was 
not  all.  Twenty  cords  of  good  fire-wood,  cut  into  cord-wood 
length,  were  to  be  hauled  yearly  to  Mr.  Woodman's  door. 
What  huge  logs  of  curly  rock-maple  were  rolled,  without  split- 
ting, into  that  gracious  pile  of  twenty  cords,  some  of  us  who 
are  old  enough  to  remember  similar  things,  can  believe. 
Still  further,  Mr.  Woodman  was  to  receive,  "  if  he  settles  in 
ye  gospel  ministry  here,  the  valine  of  100  dollars  in  labor 
and  stuff,  for  to  build  him  a  house,  to  be  paid,  so  much  as 
will  set  him  up  a  house  frame,  next  spring,  and  the  remainder 
in  boards,  shingle,  and  clapboards,  in  ye  fall  of  ye  year  fol- 
lowing." Two  months  later,  having,  no  doubt,  conferred  freely 
with  Mr.  Woodman  in  the  meantime,  and  found  out  the  state 
of  his  health,  and  how  much  he  was  willing  to  undertake,  the 
town  very  kindly  voted,  that  "'  Mi-.  Woodman,  if  he  settles  in 
ye  gospel  ministry  in  this  town,  shall  have  liberty  to  preach 
old  sermons  when  his  health  will  not  admit  of  his  making 
new  ones ; "  also,  that  he  "  shall  liave  liberty  to  be  aljsent 
three  Sabbaths  in  a  year,  yearly,  to  visit  his  friends."  In  ad- 
dition to  all  the  rest,  Mr.  Woodman,  as  the  first  settled  min- 
ister, received  of  the  town  the  present  of  a  farm,  not  tliat 
which  we  all  know  as  the  Woodman  farm,  but  another  which 
he  exchanged  for  that  with  Esquire  Harper,  a  business  trans- 
action in  which  the  people  of  his  congregation — that  is  to  say, 


39 

all  the  town — were  pleased  to  see  that  their  minister  was  not 
entirely  lacking  in  worldly  wisdom. 

The  town,  at  a  very  early  period  in  its  history,  set  apart  for- 
ever, for  the  support  of  the  gospel  ministry,  a  tract  of  land 
called  tlie  parsonage,  the  income  of  which  seems  to  have  been 
given  to  Mi-.  Woo(huan.  For  at  a  town-meeting  held  May 
26,  1795,  William  Harper,  Esq.,  having  been  chosen  agent  at 
a  previous  meeting,  "  to  lay  a  copy  of  the  records  before  our 
attorney  and  take  his  advice  in  writing,"  reported  that  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  IJradbnry's  opinion,  "the  income  of  tiie  parsonage 
Itelongs   to   Mr.   Woodman." 

The  people,  no  donl»t,  knew  Mr.  Woodman's  mind  in  re- 
lation to  the  business  in  hand,  well  enough  to  lie  sure  they 
were  not  acting  jirecipitatcly  in  fixing  the  day  for  his  or- 
dination, and  making  a  list'  of  the  churches  to  be  invited, 
before  he  had  signified  his  accejitance  of  the  call.  This  was 
done  by  the  same  town-meeting  which  voted  the  call,  and  the 
"  sallery,"  and  the  "  twenty  cord  of  good  lire-wood."  ''  Wed- 
nesday, the  tbiiteeiith  of  November  next  for  the  day  of  Mr. 
Woodman's  oiibiiation,"  in  case  he  should  accept  the  call,  was 
the  action  recordeil  ;  also  "•  to  send  to  ye  churches  of  Can- 
terbury, Concord,  Pembroke,  Epi)ing,  ye  first  in  Rowley,  ye 
second,  tliird, and  fourth  in  Newbury,  to  assist  in  ye  ordination." 

xVU  this  is  from  the  records  of  the  town,  and  shows  the  ac- 
tion of  the  town.  Tiie  church  had  not  yet  been  organized. 
At  the  time  appointed,  one  hundred  years  ago  to-day,  the  or- 
dination of  Mr.  Joseph  Woodman  look  place  in  the  liouse  of 
Daniel   Sanb(jrn. 

We  supi)ose  Ihal  the  church  was  lirst  organized,  and  that 
lie  was  installed  as  the  pastor,  at  the  same  time  and  place. 
This,  our  centennial  service,  is,  therefore,  to  commemorate  the 
formation  of  the  church  and  the  settlement  of  its  first  pastor. 
There  are  some  here  present  who  remember,  that  just  sixty- 
five  years  ago  to-day  the  second  pastor  of  the  church  was 
ordained  in  the  meeting-house  on  the  hill. 

Of  that  solemn  service  of  ordination  one  hundred  years 
ago,  no  record  remains  to  us.  The  first  entry  in  the  first 
Book  of  Church  Records,  is  the  covenant  of  the  church,  in 


40 

the  baud-writing  of  Mr.  Woodman,  signed  by  seven  men, 
wbose  names  are  as  follows :  James  Gates,  Nathaniel  Tilton, 
Daniel  Sanborn,  Benjamin  Darling,  Josiah  Sanborn,  Aaron 
Sanborn,  Abijah  Sanborn. 

Directly  after  these  names  is  a  brief  form  of  admission, 
and  on  the  two  pages  following,  the  Confession  of  Faith. 

The  record  of  what  seems  to  have  been  the  first  regular 
church-meeting  follows  immediately  after  the  Confession  of 
Faith,  and  is  dated,  "  Jan'y  ye  2nd,  1772."  The  first 
business  taken  in  hand  is  thus  recorded  :  "  This  day,  the 
churcli  being  met,  agreeable  to  previous  warning,  after  Sol- 
emn prayer  to  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  for  direction 
and  acceptance,  unanimously  vote«:1  the  al)ove  written  as  a 
Standing  Confession  of  Faith  in  this  Church."  This  confes- 
sion is  remarkably  full  and  clear,  and  would  seem  to  show 
that  the  original  members  and  their  pastor,  Mr.  Woodman, 
were  well  established  on  the  great  fundamental  doctrines  of 
Christianity.  Other  matters  attended  to  at  the  same  meet- 
ing are  entered  thus : 

"  2.  Voted,  that  Benjamin  Darling  be  chosen  first  deacon. 

3.  Voted,  that  Nathaniel  Tilton  be  chosen  the  second 
deacon. 

4.  Voted,  that  the  Lord's  Supper  be  administered  upon 
the  second  Lord's  Day  in  each  month,  omitting  the  months  of 
Dec'r,  Jan'y,  Feb'y  and  March. 

5.  Voted,  To  receive  Lucy,  Mary,  and  Anna  Sanboi'u  by 
letter  of  dismission  and  recommendation  from  the  church  of 
Christ  in  Northampton." 

More  than  a  year  seems  to  have  passed  before  another  reg- 
ular church-meeting  was  held.  This  was  on  the  fourth  of 
March,  1773.  The  business  at  this  meeting  was  of  very  grave 
importance.  You  are  aware  that,  in  the  early  period  of  the  his- 
tory of  New  England,  there  was,  in  the  cluu-ches  generally, 
what  was  called  the  half-way  covenant;  the  meaning  of  which 
was,  that  any  members  of  the  congregation,  not  being  "  in  full 
communion  with  the  church,"  as  it  was  expressed,  were  yet  per- 
mitted and  urged  to  "  recognize  the  covenant,"  (which  meant 
no  more  than  that  they  acknowledged  that  they  ought  to  be 


41 

Christians,)  and  to  bring  their  children  for  baptism.  Thus 
we  find  the  record,  "Jacob  Smitli,  Jr.,  and  his  wife,  recog- 
nized tlieir  baptismal  covenant,"  and  a  little  onward,  "  Bap- 
tized a  child  of  Jacob  Smith,  Jr.,  by  the  name  of  Oliver."  A 
year  or  two  later  another  child  of  Jacob  Smith,  Jr.,  was  bap- 
tized by  the  name  of  "  Molly,"  but  neither  father  nor  mother 
was  at  any  time  a  member  of  the  church. 

The  working  of  so  unscriptural  a  usage  as  the  half-way  cov- 
enant was  most  disastrous  here  as  elsewhere,  as  the  record  of 
the  proceedings  at  this  second  regular  church-meeting  shows. 
"  After  prayer  to  ye  great  head  of  ye  church  for  direction, 
They,  considering  the  great  rcuiissncss  which  is  at  this  day  so 
common  in  regard  to  those  who  recognize  their  cov't,  agreed  : 

1.  That  they  esteemod  Immorality  a  Sufficient  bar  to  per- 
sons being  admitted  to  Baj)tism  for  themselves  or  children. 

2.  That  they  would  regard  those  who  were  Baptized  in  In- 
fancy and  tliose  who  have  recognized  their  baptismal  covenant, 
as  members  of  the  visible  Church,  or  persons  visibly  in  cove- 
nant, and  as  Such,  Subject  to  the  watch  and  discipline  of  the 
church  and  would  treat  them  as  such. 

3.  That  those  who  have  recognized  the  covenant  in  other 
places  be  required  to  get  a  dismission  or  ccrtilicatc  of  their 
having  recognized  the  covenant  in  those  places,  and  of  tlieir 
regular  Standing  there,  in  order  to  their  having  their  children 
baptized  in  this  church. 

4.  That ,  on  account  of  Some  Immorality  alledged 

against  him  be  debarred  from  having  his  child  baptized,  until 
he  shall  make  satisfaction  to  the  church.''' 

At  what  time  and  in  what  way  this  usage  was  discontinued 
does  not  appear.  The  latest  record  of  such  a  i)roceeding  is 
as  follows:  "Sept.  10,1780.  William  Taylor  and  wife  re- 
newed covenant,  and  had  their  cliild  baptized  by  the  name  of 
"  Chase." 

The  records  show  that  cliurcli   discipline  was  maintained, 

and  that  in  March,  1794,  the  pastor  and  Deacon  Tilton  were 

appointed  "  a  committee  to  make  a  prudent  enquiry  with  respect 

to  their  performance  of  family  worship  by  those  who  are  mem- 

G 


42 

bers  in.  full  communion,  and  also  those  who  have  recognized 
their  covenant  in  this  church." 

The  ministry  of  Mr.  Woodman,  beginning  on  the  13th  of 
November,  1771,  one  hundred  years  ago  to-day,  was  termin- 
ated by  his  dismission  Nov.  13,  1806,  the  same  day  on  which 
his  successor  was  ordained.  He  was  a  man  of  commanding 
personal  appearance  and  dignified  bearing,  and  for  talent  and 
education  took  rank  with  the  foremost  ministers  of  New 
Hampshire.  He  was  of  medium  height,  of  a  broad,  com- 
pact frame,  with  large  head  well  set  on  ample  shoulders,  and 
decidedly  marked  features.  I  have  heard  it  said,  by  men 
who  knew  him,  and  who  have  passed  away,  that  he  had  nat- 
ural endowments  which  would  have  fitted  him  admirably  for 
the  courts  of  law  or  the  halls  of  legislation,  if  such  had  been 
his  choice.  The  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  the 
town  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that,  at  a  special  meeting 
held  January  17,  1775,  it  was  "  voted  that  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Woodman  be  a  deputy  for  this  town  to  join  the  deputies  of 
the  other  towns  in  this  province,  at  a  meeting  to  be  held  at 
Exeter  on  the  25tii  day  of  this  instant,  to  choose  delegates 
for  the  Continental  Congress,  and  to  choose  a  committee  to 
proportion  each  town's  part  of  ye  charge  of  sending  delegates 
June  3,  1802." 

That  he  was  held  in  high  respect  beyond  the  limits  of  his 
own  town  it  is  evident,  for  we  find  that  on  the  third  day  of 
June,  1802,  he  preached  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  and  his 
Council,  with  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  in 
Concord,  then  a  pleasant  village,  and  tlie  discourse  was  pub- 
lished. 

It  was  in  the  appointed  duties  of  the  Christian  ministry, 
however,  that  he  was  chiefly  occupied  during  the  thirty-five 
years  of  his  })astorate,  preaching  the  gospel,  visiting  the  sick, 
and  from  house  to  house,  uniting  the  young  in  the  bonds  of 
matrimony,  baptizing  the  children,  and  officiating  at  the  bur- 
ial of  the  dead. 

In  less  than  a  year  from  the  day  on  which  Mr.  Woodman 
was  dismissed,  God.  called  him  to  his  reward,  at  the  compara- 
tively early  age  of  fifty-uine,  and  his  frame,   wasted    by   suf- 


43 

fcring,  was  laid  bj  tliat  of  Esther,  the  much  loved  wife, 
wliose  death  f.jur  years  earlier  had  filled  him  with  deepest 
grief.  Very  touching  and  beautiful  is  the  allusion  made  to 
the  afflictions,  whose  effect  had  been  to  unfit  him,  in  a  great 
measure,  for  his  work,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  town  about 
a  year  before  his  dismission.     It  begins  thus  : 

"  FriendH  and  Brefhrm  :_An  all-wise,  holy,  and  sovereign 
God,  in  whose  hands  our  times  are,  was  pleased,  more  than 
two  years  since,  to  visit  me  with  the  epidemic  sickness  which 
that  season  prevailed  among  us.  This  was  succeeded  by 
l)ili()us  and  rhemnatic  complaints,  from  which  I  am  not  fully 
recovered,  but  still  remain  in  an  infirm  and  debilitated  state, 
so  that  I  am  not  able  at  ])resent  to  attend  to  all  tlie  duties  of 
the  ministerial  oflice  at  all  seasons.  *  *  *  *  ^nd  es])ecially 
does  this,  together  with  the  sore  bereavement  with  wliich  God 
was  pleased,  just  before,  to  visit  myself  and  family,  afford  me 
in  particular  a!)undant  cause  for  deep  humiliation  and  repent- 
ance, and  huiiible  enquiry  wherefore  He  contcndcth  with  me. 
And  while  they  give  me  a  claim  to  your  candour,  your  sympa- 
thy, and  compassion,  I  earnestly  request  the  prayers  of  all 
who  have  an  Interest  at  the  throne  of  grace,  that  God  would 
sanctify  those  heavy  and  long-continued  afflictions,  support 
me  under  them,  and  grant  an  happy  issue  of  them  in  his  own 
time." 

The  liappy  issue  came :  God's  time  was  not  long  delayed, 
and  he  passed,  on  the  28th  day  of  September,  1807,  from  un- 
der the  dark  cloud  which  cast  so  distressing  a  shadow  over 
his  last  days,  into  the  world  of  which  Christ  is  the  everlast- 
ing light. 

His  retirement  from  the  ministerial  office  in  order  that  a 
younger  man  might  take  his  place,  when  he  became  convinced 
of  his  inability  any  longer  to  perform  its  duties,  was  a  grace- 
ful and  generous  act,  which  could  hardly  have  failed  to  com- 
mend him  to  the  admiration  and  sympathy  of  the  whole  com- 
munity. He  sent  to  that  community  (for  he  looked  upon 
them  all  as,  in  a  sense,  his  flock)  a  long  letter,  and  worthy  to 


44 

be  tliG  last  of  all  his  labors  of  love  among-  them,  as  we  may 
suppose  it  was.  A  copy  lies  before  me,  well  preserved.  He 
addresses  it  "  To  the  Inhabitants  of  Sandboriiton,  more  espec- 
ially to  the  Congregational  Church  and  Society,"  and  then 
proceeds  : 

"  Men  and  Brethren  : — In  the  wise,  righteous,  and  sovereign 
providence  of  God,  my  health  has  been  greatly  impaired  since 
the  severe  sickness  with  which  He  has  been  pleased  to  visit 
me  ;  and  for  nine  months  past  I  have  been  unable  to  supply 
the  desk.  There  appears  but  little  prospect  of  my  being  able 
to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  ministry  among  you  for  the 
future."  After  alluding  to  an  unsuccessful  effort  which  had 
been  made  to  settle  the  contract  between  him  and  the  town, 
lie  goes  on  to  say :  "  Your  present  situation  is  alarming, 
affecting,  and,  to  me,  very  distressing — destitute  of  the  stated 
administration  of  God's  word  and  ordinances — the  meeting- 
house unopened — the  desk  unoccupied  on  the  Holy  Sabbath." 

How  ready  and  anxious  he  was  to  do  anything  in  his  power 
to  bring  so  sad  a  state  of  things  to  an  end,  is  seen  in  what 
comes  immediately  after:  "Apprehensive  of  the  evils  which  will 
be  the  probable  consequences  of  continuing  in  such  a  state, 
and  desirous  to  do  all  in  my  power  to  prevent  them  and  to 
promote  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  Church  and  Society 
to  which  I  have  so  long  ministered,  I  have  been  induced  to 
give  up  that  which  I  have  ever  considered  as  entitling  me  to 
support  in  case  of  sickness,  or  of  age.  I  therefore  propose  to 
give  up  the  contract  with  the  town  on  the  following  condi- 
tions, viz  :  that  my  poll  and  estate  be  exempted  from  taxes  dur- 
ing my  life." 

He  then  addresses  himself  to  the  church  and  congregation, 
whom  he  calls  "Friends  and  Brethren,"  reminds  them,  in 
tender  and  touchi)ig  words,  of  his  lengthened  ministry  among 
them,  refers  to  the  severe  afflictions  by  which  a  wise  and  sover- 
eign God  has  brought  liis  labors  to  a  close,  and  urges  them,  in 
most  earnest  terms,  to  look  for  another  pastor  without  delay, 
giving  them  excellent  counsel  how  to  proceed.     He  enjoins 


45 

upon  tliem  in  particular  "  the  due  observation  and  snnctifica- 
tion  of  the  Holy  Sabbath,"  warning  them  of  the  sad  results 
of  Sabbath  desecration,  and  recommending  to  the  heads  of  fam- 
ilies to  use  their  autliority  and  influence  in  the  matter,  with  all 
under  their  care.      He  brings  his  letter  to  a  close  as  follows : 

"  And  now,  brethren,!  commend  you  to  God  and  to  the  word 
of  his  grace.  May  he  preserve  you  from  the  evils  to  which 
you  are  exposed,  pour  out  His  Spirit  and  unite  your  hearts 
in  Christian  truth,  love,  and  holiness,  build  up  His  cause  and 
interest  among  us,  smile  upon  and  succeed  your  exertions  to 
obtain  an  able  and  faithful  minister  of  the  New  Testament, 
who  may  l)e  a  rich  blessing  to  you  and  your  children. 

Finally,  brethren,  be  perfect,  be  of  one  mind,  live  in  peace, 
and  the  God  of  peace  shall  be  with  you. 

(Signed,)     JOSEPH   WOODMAN. 

Sandbornton,  April  22nd,  1806." 

On  the  22d  day  of  April,  1S06,  a  special  town-meeting  was 
assembled  in  the  meeting-house  on  the  hill,  and  Deacon  Samuel 
Lane,  Dr.  Samuel  Gcrrish,and  Major  Jeremiah  Tilton,  a  com- 
mittee appointed  for  the  purpose,  waited  on  Mr.  Woodman, 
in  the  house  still  standing,  and  shaded  by  the  fine  old  elms 
which  to  some  of  us  seem  no  larger  than  when  we  were  little 
children,  and  returned  with  that  noble  epistle  in  their  hands. 
If  the  reading  of  it  did  not  touch  the  hearts  and  moisten  the 
eyes  of  the  strong  men  in  that  special  town-meeting,  then  we 
have  judged  wrong  as  to  their  character.  That  it  had  the 
effect  which  Mr.  Woodman  so  earnestly  desired,  is  very  cer- 
tain ;  for  the  meeting  accepted  unanimously  its  terms,  and 
immediately  voted  to  raise  two  hundred  dollars  for  supplying 
the  desk  of  the  Congregational  Society  the  present  year,  and 
chose  Jeremiah  Sanborn,  Dr.  Samuel  Gerrish,  and  Brad- 
street  Moody,  as  a  Committee  of  Supply. 

That  the  letter  of  Mr.  Woodman  made  a  happy  impression 
seems  evident  from  the  fact  that  it  was  printed  in  elegant 
style  for  that  time,  and  distributed  through  the  town. 


46 

The  last  record  in  the  Church  Book  relating  to  Mr.  Wood- 
man, is  of  a  very  gratifying  character,  as  follows  : 

At  a  church-meeting  Oct.  14,  1818,  "  Voted,  that  brother 
Ebenezer  Sanborn,  Jr.,  and  Moses  Emery,  be  a  committee  to 
obtain  subscriptions  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  grave- 
stones for  the  late  Rev'd  Joseph  Woodman,  former  Pastor  of 
this  Church." 

No  time  was  lost  in  any  delay  to  seek  a  new  pastor,  as  was 
to  have  been  expected  of  a  congregation  that  had  settled 
their  first  four  years  before  the  frame  of  their  meeting-house 
was  raised.  How  many  ministers  and  who,  supplied  the  pul- 
pit as  candidates,  we  do  not  know.  It  is  certain  that  a  Mr. 
Daniel  Staniford  preached,  and  made  so  good  an  impression 
that  his  name  was  given  to  the  eldest  child  of  Benjamin  P. 
Sanborn,  born  some  time  after. 

The  people  had  heard  a  favorable  account  of  a'youiig  man 
in  Massachusetts,  who  had  graduated  at  Cambridge  the  year 
before,  and  had  spent  about  three  months  in  the  study  of  the- 
ology with  the  Rev.  Jonathan  French,  at  Andover  ;  that  ar- 
rangement being  all  there  was  at  that  time  of  the  Andover 
Theological  Seminary.  His  name  was  Abraham  Bodwell. 
The  town  sent  "■  Squire  Emery  "  all  the  way  on  horse-back  to 
Andover,  seventy  miles,  to  invite  Mr.  Bodwell  to  come  to 
Sanbornton  and  preach  as  a  candidate.  "  Squire  Emery  " 
made  so  favorable  an  impresssion  upon  him  that  he  assented, 
notwithstanding  tlio  fact  that  overtures,  looking  to  a  settle- 
ment, had  been  made  to  him  from  Haverhill  and  Newbury. 
It  must  have  been  near  the  beginning  of  June  in  the  year 
1806,  when  he  came.  The  forests  were  in  all  their  leafy 
beauty,  tlie  birds  were  singing  among  the  branches,  and  the 
hills  and  mountains  around  and  far  away  must  have  appeared 
exceeding  grand  in  comparison  with  the  tamer  landscape  of 
eastern  Massachusetts.  He  brought  with  him  his  licensure 
to  preach,  as  follows  : 

"  Stoneham,  April  30th,  1806. 

This  may  certify  that  Mr.  Abraham  Bodwell,  A.  B.,  of 
Methuen,  offered  himself  to  the  Westford  Association  to  be 


47 

examined  and  approbated  as  a  Candidate  for  the  work  of  the 
Gospel  Ministry.  And  tlie  Association  having  carefully  at- 
tended to  his  moral  character,  his  Clinrch  standing,  his 
knowledge  of  theology,  and  the  various  requisite  qualifica- 
tions ;  do  cordially  approbate  him  as  a  Candidate,  and  unaaii- 
mously  recommend  him  as  a  person  well  qualified  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  wherever  he  may  be  called  in  divine  providence 
to  labor. 

PAUL    LITCHFIELD,  Moderator, 
Attest.  FREKGRACE    RAYNOLDS,  Scribe. 

The  time  of  probation  was  about  three  months,  and  the 
numl)er  of  sermons  preached  was  twenty-three.  On  Sunday, 
August  24th,  two  very  close  and  pungent  sermons  were 
preached  from  the  text,  ''  Israel  doth  not  know  ;  my  people 
doth  not  consider."  On  Friday  of  the  same  week  a  meeting 
of  the  church  was  held,  the  first  business  of  which  was  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  to  confer  with  Mr.  Woodman, 
and  learn  whether  he  would  prefer  to  continue  his  relation 
as  Senior  Pastor,  or  to  be  dismissed.  The  committee  waited 
on  him,  and  brought  l)ack  for  answer  that  he  requested  dis- 
mission. The  church  acceded  to  his  wish,  then  voted,  "  To 
give  Mr.  Abiahani  liodwell  a  call  to  settle  liere  as  Pastor  of 
said  Church.     Also : 

That  Josiah  Emery  present  this  vote  to  the  selectmen  of 
tliis  town,  and  request  them  to  call  a  meeting  of  tl>e  quali- 
fied voters  (in  ministerial  matters)  to  see  if  they  will  join 
this  Church  in  settling  Mr.  Bodwell  as  Pastor  of  this  Churcli 
and  Congregation,  as  soon  as  they  shall  think  it  convenient." 

The  town-meoting  was  held  on  Tuesday,  loth  of  Scptemlier, 
and  a  vote  was  passed  "  to  give  Mr.  Bodwell  a  call  to  settle 
in  the  Gospel  ministry  in  this  town."  A  committee  of  i\\c — 
Dea.  Samuel  Lane,  Nathan  Taylor,  Esq.,  Dr.  Samuel  Gerrish, 
Jeremiah  Sanl)orn,  and  Joshua  Lane — were  chosen  to  inform 
Mr.  Bodwell  of  the  town's  vote,  and  treat  with  him  on  terms 
of  settlement.  Two  weeks  later,  on  Wednesday,  September 
30th,  the  town  met  again,  when  the  committee  of  five  re- 
ported the  following  contract :  "  That  the  town  of  Sanborn- 


48 

ton  pay  Abraham  Bodwell  $450,  annually,  for  preaching  and 
attending  to  all  the  duties  incumbent  on  a  settled  minister  of 
the  Gospel  in  said  town,  until  two-thirds  of  that  part  of  the 
town  generally  denominated  Congregation alists,  shall  wish  to 
discontinue  the  salary,  and  it  shall  be  discontinued  in  one 
year  after  a  regular  notification,  in  writing,  from  the  town  to 
said  Bodwell,  purporting  such  wish;  and  the  said  Abraham 
Bodwell  contracts  to  attend  to  all  the  duties  before  mentioned, 
until  he  shall  give  the  same  regular  notice  to  the  Selectmen  or 
clerk  of  said  town,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  he  shall 
be  released  from  this  contract." 

This  report  was  accepted  by  a  vote  of  the  town,  and  the 
same  committee  was  re-appointed  "  to  wait  on  Mr.  Bodwell, 
inform  him  of  the  vote  of  this  meeting,  and  likewise  to  make 
arrangements  for  the  ordination."  What  tlie  arrangements 
were  we  only  know  in  part.  Invitations  were  sent  to  the 
churches  in  Canterbury,  Concord,  Gilmanton,  Methuen,  Ha- 
verhill, and  Newbury.  The  day  lixed  was  the  thirteenth  of 
November,  the  thirty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of 
the  first  pastor,  and,  as  we  suppose,  of  the  organization  of  the 
church.  It  was  a  high  day  in  Sanbornton,  that  thirteenth  of 
November,  sixty-five  years  ago  to-day. 

A  goodly  number  of  pastors  and  delegates  were  present,  in- 
cluding the  Rev.  Messrs.  Smith,  of  Gilmanton,  Patrick,  of 
Canterbury,  McFarland,  of  Concord,  and  Perley  of  Methuen. 
The  ample  house  of  Dr.  Benaiah  Sanborn,  in  which  the  pas- 
tor elect  had  his  home,  was  the  scene  of  large  and  most  gen- 
erous hospitalities.  Most,  if  not  all,  tlie  ministers  from 
abroad  were  assembled  there,  and  how  they  looked  and  what 
some  of  them  said  and  did,  is  well  remembered  still  by  sur- 
viving members  of  the  family.  At  the  appointed  hour,  all 
wended  their  way  to  the  meeting-house  on  the  hill.  An  or- 
dination in  those  days,  like  a  grand  military  review,  was  an 
attraction  to  all  the  towns  around.  The  beautiful  green  slope 
in  front  of  the  meeting-house  was  covered  with  peddlers'  wa- 
gons, and  tents.  By  far  the  larger  part  of  the  multitude  as- 
sembled cared  nothing  for  religious  service,  and  yet  the  house 
was  so  crammed  that  it  was  thought  necessary  to  shore  up  the 


49 

galleries,  lest  they  should  fall.  So  great  was  the  num- 
ber of  those  who  wished  to  get  in  Imt  could  not,  that  the 
appearance  is  described  by  one  still  living  as  having  been  like 
that  of  bees  hanging  from  a  hive  on  a  hot  summer  day.  The 
man  who  says  this  was  a  lad  thirteen  years  old  at  the  time, 
and  after  tiying  in  vain  to  get  into  the  meeting-house,  he  went 
to  see  a  show  which  was  going  on  at  tlie  same  time  in  the 
large  square  house  of  Mr.  Harj)er,  which  large  square  house 
some  of  us  remember  to  have  seen  burn  down,  early  on  a  cloudy 
summer  evening,  a  good  while  ago.  The  house  now  occupied 
by  Mrs.  Wadleigh  is  on  the  same  site.  In  that  great  square 
house  there  was  also,  on  that  day,  a  counter,  behind  which 
stood  a  grandson  of  Master  Perkins,  one  of  the  fine  young 
men  of  the  congregation,  then  twenty-two  years  of  age,  and 
who  stands  erect  among  us  to-day,  the  oldest  member  of  the 
church  and  the  oldest  man  in  the  town,  who  lias  lived  eiglity- 
seven  years  from  his  birth,  in  Sanbornton — a  longer  time,  as 
he  believes,  than  any  other  man  has  lived  in  the  town, 
though  many  have  died  here  at  a  greater  age. 

And  what  did  he  do  l)ehind  tliat  counter  on  that  ordina- 
tion day  ?  Measured  out  rum  to  saints  and  sinners!  It  was 
the  custom  then.  The  godly  ministers  assembled  would 
hardly  liave  thought  they  cuuld  properly  install  the  young 
pastor  without  the  cheering  influence  of  ardent  spirits.  And 
years  afterward,  when  the  young  pastor  had  become  a  father, 
his  son,  then  a  little  boy,  rememl)crs  pleasant  days  on  which 
he  was  permitted  to  go  in  the  chaise  with  him  as  he  rode 
over  the  parish,  and  how,  at  each  successive  house  where  he 
called,  the  good  people,  anxious  to  show  their  great  respect 
and  love  for  their  minister,  ottered  him  spirits,  and  would 
have  been  offended  if  he  had  refused  ;  and  how  cautiously  he 
only  sipped,  lest  such  oft-repeated  kindness  should  prove 
more  than  he  could  bear. 

The  ordination  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Mc- 
Farland,  of  Concord,  from  the  words,  "  The  grace  of  God 
that  bringeth  salvation  hath  appeared  to  all  men."  Titus, 
ii.,  11. 

7 


50 

This  is  all  we  know  of  the  public  services  of  that  day. 
When  the  early  sunset  came  the  meeting-house  was  empty, 
the  peddlers'  carts  and  tents  and  show-men  all  were  gone, 
the  throng  was  dispersed,  and  the  stillness  of  night  settled 
down  upon  this  young  village  and  this  glorious  landscape. 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Woodman,  firs-t  pastor  of  the  church,  had 
been  dismissed,  and  Mr.  Abraham  Bodwell,  whose  labors 
were  to  extend  over  the  long  period  of  forty-six  years,  had 
been  settled  in  his  room. 

Sanbornton  was  at  that  time  a  place  of  considerable  enter- 
prise, and  a  center  of  trade  to  a  circle  of  towns  around.  On 
pleasant  summer  mornings  people  were  seen  on  their  way 
to  the  stores  from  distances  of  ten  and  twelve  miles,  with 
butter  and  cheese  and  fresh-laid  eggs,  to  barter  for  tea  and 
coffee  and  sugar  and  calico  and  snulf. 

Tlie  meeting-house  was  well  filled  on  the  Sabbath  with  a 
congregation  of  sober,  earnest,  and  intelligent  men  and  wo- 
men, coming  from  all  parts  of  the  town,  and  none  were  more 
constant  than  those  who  drove  five  miles  up  and  down  these 
invigorating  hills.  How  full  those  great  square  pews  used  to 
be,  morning  and  afternoon,  summer  and  winter!  Many  of 
us  remember  what  a  merry  sight  it  was  to  us  children,  at  a 
more  recent  period  when,  on  bright  cold  winter  days,  the  con- 
gregation poured  out  from  that  old  meeting-house,  in  which 
there  had  been  no  fire  save  what  our  mothers  and  grandmoth- 
ers brought  in  their  little  foot-stoves,  and  packed  themselves 
by  families  in  their  ample  sleighs,  single  and  double,  and  went 
down  the  hill  to  the  music  of  their  many  bells,  in  long  pro- 
cession, at  a  rate  of  speed  which  made  it  plain  that  tlie  horses 
were  as  glad  as  the  children  who  had  sat  shivering  on  the 
cold  hard  seats,  that  meeting  was  done. 

If  the  two  sermons  preached  by  my  father  on  the  last  Sab- 
bath of  his  probation,  and  to  which  I  have  already  referred, 
are  a  sample,  as  no  doubt  they  are,  of  what  came  after,  then 
his  ministry  was  faithful  and  earnest  in  no  common  degree. 
He  presented  habitually,  as  though  he  believed  them  with  all 
his  heart,  the  great  fundamental  doctrines,  ruin,  redemption, 
and  regeneration. 


61 

I  can  remember,  when  a  child,  being  so  moved  by  the  ear- 
nestness and  solemnity  of  his  appeals  to  the  impenitent,  as  I 
sat  in  the  pew  at  the  right  hand  of  the  pulpit,  that  I  strug- 
gled hard  to  conceal  my  emotions,  fearing  that  all  around 
would  see,  and  was  glad  when  Monday  came,  that  I  might  go 
to  school  and  to  play  and  forget.  That  he  was  deeply  anxious 
for  the  salvation  of  his  people,  and  that  his  anxiety  grew  un- 
til it  was  almost  more  than  he  could  bear,  is  a  fact  of  peculiar 
interest  to  us.  I  well  remember  listening,  when  very  young,  to 
a  conversation  between  my  father  and  a  very  godly  minister, 
who  was  a  visitor  at  the  house,  but  whose  name  is  forgotten, 
on  the  great  revival  which  wrought  such  a  wonderful  change 
in  this  town  in  the  year  1816.  The  thing  which  made  the 
deej)est  impression  upon  me  was  the  statement,  by  my  father, 
that  his  anxiety  for  tiie  salvation  of  his  people  became  so  in- 
tense that  it  was  agonizing,  insomuch  that  it  seemed  to  him  at 
last  that  he  could  not  live  unless  the  Spirit  of  God  was  poured 
out  upon  the  congregation. 

And  thus,  without  any  revival  measures,  or  any  special 
means,  through  the  faithful  preaching  of  the  word  by  the  or- 
dained pastor,  and  in  answer  to  his  earnest  prayers,  the  Spirit 
was  poured  upon  them  from  on  high,  and  the  whole  town  was 
shaken.  Quietly  and  powerfully  the  work  went  on  until  more 
than  a  hundred  were  hopefully  converted  to  Christ,  many  of 
whom  were  fathers  and  mothers,  among  the  most  respectable 
and  influential  members  of  the  congregation. 

From  July  to  the  end  of  the  year  1816,  the  records  of  the 
church  are  of  exceeding  interest.  On  tlie  fourteenth  of  July 
ten  fathers  and  mothers  were  admitted  to  the  church  on  pro- 
fession of  their  faith,  and  five  of  them  were  baptized.  Two 
weeks  later  sixteen  children  of  these  parents  were  baptized. 
On  the  eleventh  of  August  fourteen  were  admitted  on  profes- 
sion, mostly  heads  of  families,  and  on  the  eighth  of  September 
forty-one  persons  were  received,  and  seventeen  were  baptized,  of 
whom  thirteen  were  children.  Thus  onward  to  the  end  of 
the  year,  twelve  being  admitted  on  the  tenth  of  November, 
the  last  communion  Sabbath  of  the  year. 


52 

The  full  results  of  that  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God  will 
not  be  known  till  the  day  of  judgment.  We  may  confidently 
say  that  its  blessed  effects  are  felt  to  the  present  time,  not 
only  in  this  church  and  congregation,  but  by  the  whole  town. 
There  were  other  seasons  of  special  religious  interest  during 
the  forty-six  years  of  my  father's  ministry,  but  none  compar- 
able to  the  great  awakening  of  1816,  The  entire  number 
received  by  him  to  the  fellowship  of  the  church  in  the  forty- 
six  years  of  his  ministry,  was  three  hundred  and  seven,  and 
the  number  of  baptisms,  four  hundred  and  eighty-four,  mostly 
children.  I  think  you  will  sustain  me  in  the  assertion  that 
the  character  of  my  father's  preaching  was  eminently  adapted 
to  promote  sound  conversion  It  was  not  superficial  nor  sen- 
sational, but  Biblical,  discriminating,  and  searching  ;  not  to 
the  speculative  understanding,  the  proud  and  self-sufficient 
reason,  but  to  the  conscience  and  the  heart.  The  fruits  of 
this  have  been  manifest,  and  are  manifest  to-day,  in  the  sound- 
ness in  the  faith  of  the  church,  its  purity  of  discipline,  and 
its  steadfastness  in  all  good  ways.  During  the  entire  century 
of  its  existence,  indeed,  this  church  has  been  little  troubled 
with  crotchets  and  isms,  and  has  manifested  the  soundness 
and  vigor  of  its  spiritual  life  in  the  rapidity  of  its  recovery 
from  any  mild  attacks  of  religious  weakness  or  derangement. 
It  had  at  one  time  an  attack,  very  mild  indeed,  of  perfection- 
ism, called  in  our  day  the  "  higher  Christian  life,"  (it  is  all 
the  same  thing)  ;  but  the  body  of  the  Church  was  too  sound 
and  healthy  to  be  affected  by  it.  Hardly  did  it  get  through 
the  skin  ;  and  it  was  very  severely  let  alone.  Neither  were 
blisters  applied  nor  purgatives  administered,  but  the  body  was 
nourished  up  in  sound  doctrine,  as  aforetime,  and  in  a  won- 
derfully short  time  almost  every  trace  of  the  malady  dis- 
appeared. 

I  think  you  will  not  only  bear'  with  me,  but  add  your  testi- 
mony to  the  fact,  when  I  say,  that  I  have  never  known  a  man 
who  equaled  my  father  in  the  faculty  of  holding  his  tongue. 
How  he  combined  the  utmost  meekness  of  spirit  and  for- 
bearance of  demeanor  with  a  declared  decision  and  firmness 
of  principle,  like  the  great  granite  mountains  round  about  us, 


53 

was  to  me  a  mystery,  and  it  is  a  mystery  still.  I  am  quite 
sure  that  this  whole  town  of  Sanborntoii  would  rise  up  to-day 
and  bear  emphatic  witness,  that  this  singular  combination 
of  gentleness  with  decision,  was  largely  the  secret  of  his 
influence  and  usefulness. 

The  first  Sunday  school  was  formed  in  the  year  1819.  One 
half  of  the  brief  intermission  of  one  hour  was  devoted  to  it, 
and  the  chief  exercise  was  the  repeating  of  portions  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  the  hymns  of  Dr.  Watts.  1  am  by  no  means  sure 
that  tlie  present  methods  are,  on  the  whole,,  any  improvement 
upon  that.  Of  <me  thing,  at  least,  I  am  sure,  and  it  is,  thatl 
would  not  exchange  the  benefits  derived  from  being  compelled 
by  my  most  excellent  mother,  sorely  against  my  will,  to  com- 
mit to  memory  many  portions  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  not  a 
few  of  Watts'  unequaled  hymns,  to  repeat  to  ray  teacher  on  the 
Sabljath,  for  any  advantages  likely  to  flow  from  many  of  what 
are  pronounced  tiie  marvellous  improvements  of  our  time. 

It  might  have  been  ex])ected  that  such  a  church  as  this, 
and  such  a  community  as  the  people  of  Sanbornton,  would 
enter  with  decision  and  earnestness  into  the  great  temperance 
reformation  which  l)rought  such  unspeakable  blessings  to  our 
whole  nation  nearly  half  a  century  ago.  That  they  did  so, 
some  of  us  are  old  enough  to  remember. 

You  will  permit  me  to  refer  to  two  particular  things  con- 
nected with  the  movement  in  this  town.  As  to  the  first,  I 
quote  from  the  very  interesting  discourse  preached  by  your 
present  pastor  at  the  funeral  of  my  beloved  mother : 

"  Up  to  the  time  of  the  great  temperance  reformation  in  the 
day  of  Jonathan  Kittrcdge  and  Lyman  Beecher,  it  was  cus- 
tomary to  furnish  liquors  at  all  social  entertainments,  and  all 
the  guests  partook,  ladies  as  well  as  gentlemen.  The  custom 
was  nowhere  more  fixed  than  in  the  very  best  society  in  San- 
bornton. To  inaugurate  a  change  required  no  small  degree 
of  courage.  The  pastor  and  his  wife  conferred  earnestly  to- 
gether, and  came  to  the  united  and  firm  conclusion  that  it 
was  their  duty,  however  painful  (and  it  was  very  painful),  to 
set   the   example.     The   opportunity   soon   came.     A  large 


54 

party  was  at  the  house,  including  the  leading  families  in  the 
congregation.  In  every  similar  instance  previously,  spirits 
had  been  brouglit  in  at  a  set  time,  and  had  been  regarded  as 
an  indispensable  part  of  the  entertainment.  In  the  present 
instance  the  set  time  came,  and  it  was  evident  that  no  change 
in  the  good  old  custom  was  expected.  But  they  liad 
made  their  decision  fully,  finally,  and  in  the  sight  of  God,  and 
there  was  no  wavering.  It  is  well  remembered  how  hearty 
and  earnest  was  the  concurrence  of  Mrs.  Bodwell  with  her 
husband,  and  how  profound  was  the  satisfaction  she  expressed 
in  doing  what  seemed  to  be  right,  even  at  the  risk  of  giving 
offence  to  their  best  friends.  It  is  believed  that  this  was  the 
first  instance  of  the  kind  in  the  society  or  in  the  town.  How 
readily  tbe  example  was  followed,  and  how  soon  the  custom 
was  banished  forever  from  the  best  families  in  Sanbornton,  is 
well  known  to  you  all." 

The  other  incident  is  the  fact,  recently  mentioned  to  me  by 
your  senior  deacon,  tbat  tbe  principles  of  that  great  reforma- 
tion took  so  strong  a  liold  on  the  conscience  of  some  of  the 
men  who  were  pillars  in  this  church,  that  they  found  no  rest 
until  they  had  abandoned  the  use  of  tobacco  as  well  as  ardent 
spirits,  and  that  cost  them  much  the  severer  struggle  of  the 
two.  Such  men  would  go  to  prison  and  to  death  for  Jesus 
Christ,  and  this  church  has  never  been  without  sucli. 

In  connection  with  the  educational  interests  of  this  com- 
munity, a  very  important  movement  was  the  incorporation  of 
twelve  men  by  the  legislature  of  1825  as  the  ''Trustees  of 
Woodman  Sanbornton  Academy."  The  members  of  this 
church  were  foremost  in  the  movement,  foremost  in  the  rais- 
ing of  funds,  and  foremost  in  all  measures  to  sustain  the 
scliool  and  to  give  it  a  liigh  character. 

The  benefits  it  conferred  upon  the  town  were  incalculable. 
Some  of  us  who  have  come  from  our  distant  homes  back  to 
dear  old  Sanbornton,  our  earliest  home,  to-day,  are  here  to 
bear  witness  on  this  point.  For  myself,  I  owe  it  to  Wood- 
man Sanbornton  Academy  that  it  was  a  possible  thing  for  me 
to  secure  a  liberal  education  and  become  a  preacher  of  the 


55 

gospel.  That  it  was  possible  even  so,  furnishes  proof  that 
your  pastor,  my  father,  was  at  once  a  most  unworldly  man, 
and  an  excellent  financier ;  for  I  have  heard  him  say  that  the 
full  amount  of  his  salary,  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  was 
paid  to  him  only  a  single  year  ;  and  how  it  dwindled,  year  by 
year,  I  need  not  say  :  and  yet,  with  no  other  source  of  in- 
come, he  paid  off  seven  hundred  dollars  of  debt  after  he  came 
to  Ranbornton,  and  bought  his  land  and  built  his  house,  and 
during  all  the  earlier  period  of  his  ministry  exercised  a  gen- 
erous liospitality  toward  the  members  of  his  own  congrega- 
tion, and  toward  all  wayfaring  brother  ministers  and  their 
families.  And  here  I  am  minded  to  tell  you  a  fact,  which 
is,  that  in  New  England  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  have 
always  been,  and  are  to-day,  as  a  class,  of  all  men  the  most 
unworldly,  ilie  most  hospitable,  and  the  best  financiers.  If 
you  will  search  this  you  shall  find  it  so. 

I  must  say  something  of  the  man  whose  name  the  academy 
bore.  He  was  the  youngest  child  but  one  of  your  first  pastor, 
and  was  born  March  2")th,  1790.  My  father  says  of  him,  in 
his  semi-centennial  discourse  :  "  He  was  a  Boston  mercliant, 
upright  and  successful  in  business,  and  greatly  honored  and 
beloved  in  tlie  religious  coniniunity  as  a  man  of  warm  heart, 
large  Christian  enterprise,  and  beautiful  devotion  in  the  ser- 
vice of  Jesus,  his  Divine  Master.  He  was  a  Christian  indeed, 
eminent  for  j)icty  and  active  exertions  in  the  cause  of  God." 
Mr.  Woodman  had  much  to  do  with  the  founding  of  the  acad- 
emy which  bore  his  name,  and  in  securing  to  it  a  high  Chris- 
tian character.  Doubtless,  had  liis  valuable  life  been  pro- 
longed, he  would  have  done  much  more  to  build  up  the  insti- 
tution and  make  it  permanent.  He  was  also  one  of  the 
founders  and  original  members  of  the  Union  Church,  in  Bos- 
ton, of  which  Dr.  Nehemiah  Adams  has  been  so  long  the  hon- 
ored pastor,  and  which  was  established  especially  for  the 
maintenance  of  sound  doctrine,  at  a  time  when  good  men 
were  alarmed  because  of  the  prevalence  of  religious  error. 
Mr.  Woodman  died  in  the  summer  of  1826,  after  a  very  short 
and  severe  sickness,  and  went  to  his  everlasting  reward,  leav- 
ing many  to  mourn  over  the  heavy  loss  to  the  church  of  God. 


56 

There  is  another  word  to  be  said  in  regard  to  the  meeting- 
honse  on  tlie  hill.  At  a  special  town-meeting,  convened  on 
petition,  May  12,  1834,  it  was  decided  to  adhere  to  the  action 
taken  at  the  previous  March  meeting,  namely  :  ^  to  relinquish 
their  right  in  the  town  meeting-house."  One  week  later,  on 
the  19th  of  May  that  is,  men  were  on  the  ground  to  take  it 
down  ;  and  on  the  24th  day  of  September  in  the  same  year, 
you  were  assembled  in  this  place  to  engage  in  the  service  of 
dedication,  when  a  sermon  was  preached  by  my  father  from 
the  text,  "  And  the  house  which  I  build  is  great,  for  great 
is  our  God  above  all  gods."  2  Chron.,  ii.,  5.  In  it  he 
says:  "It  is  worthy  of  rem^irk,  that  there  never  has  been  any 
controversy  between  different  denominations,  respecting  the 
house  first  erected,  nor  any  oilier  house  of  worship  in  the 
town.  Though  there  have  been  different  denominations  for 
more  than  forty  years,  yet,  through  the  kind  providence  of 
God,  the  house  first  erected  was  occupied  by  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  and  Society  until  last  May,  when  it  was  taken 
down  for  the  purpose  of  building  this  new  house.  The  tak- 
ing down  of  the  old  house  commenced  on  the  nineteenth  of 
May  last,  the  frame  of  which  composes  a  great  part  of  the 
frame  of  this  house.  In  accomplishing  this  enterprise  no  ac- 
cident has  occurred,  no  one  of  the  workmen  has  been  injured 
so  as  to  be  detained  from  his  work  a  single  moment.  And 
now  we  have  to  acknowledge  the  good  hand  of  our  God  upon 
us  :  our  eyes  behold  what  we  desired  ;  the  house  is  finished, 
and  we  are  assembled  for  the  solemn  purpose  of  dedicating  it 
to  the  worship  of  the  one  living  and  true  God,  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost." 

The  reference  made  to  the  kindly  relations  which  had  always 
existed  between  the  different  religious  denominations  reminds 
me  to  speak  of  the  beautiful  friendship  which  bound  my  father 
and  "  Elder  Crockett "  together  for  so  many  years.  It  was  a 
friendship  based  on  a  mutual  and  high  respect,  and  a  warm 
affection.  In  their  frequent  intercourse  they  dwelt  less  on  the 
things  in  which  they  differed,  so  comparatively  unimportant, 
and  more  on  the  grander  matters  in  which  they  were  agreed  ; 
and  thus  they  journeyed  onward,  in  a  pleasant  and  mutually 


57 

helpful  fellowship,  toward  that  happier  country  where  all  mists 
are  dispelled  from  their  vision,  and  the  Lamb  of  God  is  their 
Light. 

This  house  stands  on  the  same  granite  underpinning  which 
supported  the  other ;  and  so  we  are  on  the  same  material 
foundations  on  which  the  fathers  stood,  and  prayed,  and  wor- 
shipped long  ago,  and  for  many  years :  singing  here  to-day 
the  same  hymns  which  they  sung,  and  firmly  established  on 
the  same  everlasting  spiritual  doctrines,  and  on  the  same 
Rock  of  Ages — Jesus  Christ.  In  the  year  1856,  during  the 
ministry  of  Mr.  Boutwell,  a  new  and  more  elegant  pulpit  was 
introduced,  Avhich  is  still  here  unchanged,  and  during  the  past 
season  you  have  made  extensive  repairs,  remodeled  the  singer's 
gallery,  bringing  it  down  from  its  former  elevation,  and 
replaced  the  small  and  very  imperfect  glass,  which  was  trans- 
ferred from  the  old  meeting  house,  with  these  ampler  sashes 
through  which  the  light  shines  upon  us  to-day. 

On  my  return  from  England,  in  the  autumn  of  1850,  after 
an  absence  of  fourteen  years,  I  found  my  father  showing  signs 
of  the  infirmities  which  come  with  advanced  age.  In  the 
autumn  of  the  next  year,  after  much  anxious  thought,  and  at 
the  cost  of  a  severe  struggle  with  his  feelings,  he  rose  in  a 
meeting  of  the  church  and  asked  to  be  dismissed  from  the 
charge  which  he  had  sustained  for  the  period  of  forty-five 
years.  The  church  was  surprised  and  troubled,  and  sat  in 
silence.  They  had  never  been  without  a  pastor  for  a  single 
day,  and  they  were  afraid  ;  and  they  loved  their  aged  pastor, 
whose  life  had  been  spent  in  their  service.  At  length  one  of 
the  fathers  rose  and  said,  "We  are  not  ready;  the  time  has 
not  come  ;  we  are  not  prepared  to  take  this  step."  Again 
they  sat  in  silence-:  then  voted  unanimously  not  to  accede 
to  the  request.  The  minister  acquiesced  for  the  time,  inti- 
mating that  the  request  would  be  renewed,  and  leaving  them 
at  full  liberty  to  act  in  the  matter  whenever  they  felt  ready. 
They  saw  plainly  that  the  thing  must  come,  and  with  a  wise 
and  wholesome  dread  of  giving  up  one  pastor  until  they  fiad 
found  another  to  take  his  place,  they  made  inquiry,  and  con- 
ferred with  their  minister  and  among  themselves.    You  know 


58 

the  result.  The  Rev.  James  Boutwell,  of  Brentwood,  was 
called,  and  on  the  24th  of  June,  1852,  was  installed  by  the 
same  council  which  dissolved  the  relation  that  had  united 
pastor  and  people  in  a  most  unusual  harmony  and  love  for 
almost  forty-six  years. 

-You  remember  with  what  a  beautiful  grace  your  old  minister 
came  down  from  the  pulpit  to  the  pew,  and  became  thenceforth 
an  attentive  and  most  respectful  hearer  of  the  new  pastor,  and 
a  faithful  teacher  in  the  Sunday  School ;  doing  all  in  his  power 
to  hold  up  the  hands  of  his  minister  ;  preaching  for  him  when- 
ever his  doing  so  was  requested  as  a  favor,  until,  because  of 
great  infirmities,  the  physician  positively  forbade  his  preaching 
any  more.  How  his  life-long  and  beautiful  meekness  still 
wrapped  him  about,  as  a  garment,  you  remember ;  and  how 
all  the  town,  till  the  last,  delighted  to  speak  his  name  with 
reverent  and  loving  benedictions,  calling  him  "  Father  Bod- 
well,  the  peacemaker." 

Fifteen  years  ago  to-day,  which  was  the  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  his  settlement,  he  preached  in  this  house,  by  special  request, 
a  semi-centennial  discourse,  which  was  published  in  the  sum- 
mer after  his  death,  with  his  own  few  words  of  farewell,  to 
which  he  put  his  name  just  twelve  days  before  he  breathed 
his  last. 

His  last  illness  was  brief,  only  a  single  week.  He  knew 
that  he  was  passing  away,  and  was  steadfast  in  his  reliance  on 
Christ,  filled  with  peace.  He  was  wont  to  say  that  he  had 
learned  his  theology  as  a  system,  from  the  study  of  the  West- 
minster Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism  ;  and  to  those  grand 
cardinal  truths  which  that  symbol  so  finely,  embodies,  and 
which,  as  you  know,  he  so  earnestly  preached  during  the  whole 
course  of  his  ministry,  he  expressed  to  me  his  continued  and 
strong  attachment  during  that  last  short  illness.  On  the  24th 
day  of  March,  1863,  not  long  before  the  setting  of  the  sun,  and 
when  his  eighty- sixth  year  was  nearly  completed,  he  fell 
asleep  ;  and  two  days  after  we  laid  him  to  his  rest,  very  near  the 
spot  where  the  Rev.  Joseph  Woodman,  his  predecessor,  was 
laid  fifty-six  years  before,  and  in  the  lot  where  now  are  lying 
three  of  his  daughters,  and  the  much-loved  wife  of  his  youth, 
the  mother  of  us  all. 


59 

The  ministry  of  Mr.  Boutwell  extended  over  a  period  of 
thirteen  years,  commencing  in  1852,  and  terminating,  by  his 
death,  in  1865.  The  sermon  at  his  installation  was  preached 
by  his  intimate  friend,  the  Rev.  Erasmus  D.  Eldredge,  of  Salis- 
bury. The  other  principal  parts  were  by  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Leach,  Savage^  Curtice,  and  Dr.  Young. 

Mr.  Boutwell  was  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  of  the 
class  of  1836,  and  of  the  class  of  1840  in  Andover  Theological 
Seminary.  He  was  a  man  of  great  decision  of  character, 
positive  in  his  convictions,  and  fearless  in  expressing  them. 
A  fine  personal  appearance,  and  a  clear,  strong  voice,  gave 
impressiveness  to  his  pulpit  ministrations.  He  soon  became 
known  and  respected  among  all  the  neighboring  churches. 
During  the  thirteen  years  of  his  ministry,  Mr.  Boutwell 
admitted  sixty  persons  to  the  fellowship  of  the  church,  bap- 
tized thirty-two,  infant  and  adult,  united  thirty-six  couples  in 
the  bonds  of  matrimony,  and  attended  ninety-four  funerals. 

His  latest  labors  were  beyond  his  strength,  and  were  dis- 
charged by  virtue  of  a  resolute  will.  Consumption  had  laid 
hold  of  him  with  inexorable  grasp,  yet  he  struggled  against  it 
and  hoped  against  hope,  willing  to  labor  yet  longer,  if .  God 
would  permit,  for  the  people  of  his  charge  and  his  numerous 
young  family.  When  all  hope  was  given  up,  and  he  had 
entered  his  pulpit  for  the  last  time,  on  the  first  Sabbath  in 
March,  1865,  and  administered  the  Sacrament  and  given 
his  farewell  words,  I  saw  and  conversed  with  him  repeatedly, 
and  he  expressed  no  wish  but  that  the  will  of  God  should  be 
done.  His  death  occurred  on  the  21st  of  April,  1865,  and,  at 
the  age  of  fifty,  he  was  gathered  to  his  fathers,  the  two  former 
pastors  of  this  church,  in  the  graveyard  on  the  hill,  where 
they  all  will  rest  till  the  morning  of  the  resurrection. 

The  death  of  Mr.  Boutwell  left  the  church  in  a  condition 
entirely  new.  From  the  day  of  its  organization,  on  the  13th 
of  November,  1771,  to  that  21st  of  April,  1865,  the  long  period 
of  ninety-four  years,  it  had  not  been  a  single  day  without  a 
pastor.  But  the  God  of  our  fathers  did  not  forget  his  cove- 
nant. You  do  not  any  the  less  acknowledge  the  peculiar 
mercy  of  the  dispensation,  because  the  bracing  air  of  these 


60 

glorious  hills,  and  hardly  less,  perhaps,  an  eye  to  see  and  a 
soul  to  appreciate  their  wondrous  beauty,  first  attracted  to 
Sanbornton  the  man  in  the  enjoyment  of  whose  able  pulpit 
ministrations,  and  faithful  and  loving  pastoral  oversight,  you 
are  so  blest  and  happy.  God  grant  the  day  may  be  far  distant 
when  it  will  be  a  thing  in  season  to  sum  up  his  labors,  or  to 
attempt  his  portraiture.  He  is  dearer  to  my  heart,  as  I  doubt 
not  he  is  to  yours,  for  the  reason  that,  short  as  the  time  is, 
comparatively,  since  he  first  set  foot  in  Sanbornton,  he  has 
told  us  much  more  of  the  magnificent  mountains  round  about 
us  than  we  ever  knew  before.  It  is  required  of  me  to  say, 
also,  that  for  the  things  of  chiefest  value  in  this  address,  I  am 
largely  indebted  to  his  enthusiastic  interest  in  this  centennial 
day,  and  his  patient  and  discriminating  research  in  the  records 
of  the  church  and  the  town. 

The  voice  of  your  present  pastor  was  heard  by  you,  preach- 
ing Christ  from  this  pulpit,  for  the  first  time,  on  the  first  Sabbath 
in  October,  1865.  The  question  of  health  in  the  highly  bracing 
atmosphere  of  these  everlasting  hills,  was,  as  you  know,  a  vital 
question  with  him  ;  and  so  it  came  about  that,  as  you  found  in 
him  so  much  more  than  can  reasonably  be  expected  from  a  stated 
supply,  and  he  seemed  to  you  so  like  a  pastor,  the  matter  of 
his  settlement  was  suffered  to  be  in  abeyance,  and  he  was  not 
installed  till  the  11th  day  of  June,  1868.  On  that  day, 
almost  sixteen  years  from  the  day  of  the  settlement  of  his 
predecessor,  the  Rev.  Moses  Thurston  Runnels  was  consti- 
stituted  your  pastor  by  solemn  service  of  installation  in  this 
house.  The  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev,  H.  M.  Stone ; 
the  Rev.  Liba  Conant  offered  the  prayer  of  installation  ;  the 
Rev.  W.  T.  Savage,  D.  D.,  gave  the  charge  to  the  pastor  ;  the 
right  hand  of  fellowship  was  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Blake,  and 
the  address' to  the  people  by  the  Rev.  C.  Burnham. 

Mr.  Runnels  has  been  with  you,  therefore,  six  years  as  your 
minister,  and  about  three  years  and  a  half  as  your  pastor. 
During  the  entire  period,  thirty-one  persons  have  been  received 
by  him  into  the  fellowship  of  the  church,  to  fourteen  of  whom 
the  ordinance  of  baptism  was  administered.  Fourteen  chil- 
dren have  also  been  baptized  by  him,  making  the  total  number 


61 

of  baptisms  twenty-eight.  He  has  united  twenty-one  couples 
in  holy  matrimony,  and  officiated  at  the  funerals  of  fifty-four 
persons,  the  age  of  the  youngest  being  six  hours,  and  of  the 
oldest,  ninety  years  ;  twenty-four  were  above  seventy  years  of 
age  ;  ten  were  above  eighty,  and  one,  as  has  been  said,  was 
above  ninety,  while  the  average  age  of  the  whole  number  was 
fifty-six  years. 

These  things  are  embraced  in  tlie  first  hundred  years  of 
your  history  ;  but  the  thing  of  deepest  interest  in  relation  to 
your  present  pastor,  is  the  f\ict  that  he  is  the  connecting  link 
between  two  centuries.  To  you,  brethren  beloved  of  the 
church,  witli  your  deacons,  Abraham  Bodwell  Sanborn  and 
Joseph  Emery;  and  Moses  Thurston  Runnels,  your  pastor, 
God  has  assigned  the  peculiar  privilege  to  complete  the  old 
century  and  usher  in  the  new. 

Were  it  not  that  your  pastor  is  present,  there  are  some 
words  which  would  seem  to  me  fitting  to  put  in  this  centennial 
discourse.  I  sliuuld  not  need  to  tell  you,  what  you  so  very 
well  know  and  appreciate,  that  his  preaching  is  characterized, 
not  only  by  marked  intellectual  ability  and  accurate  and  varied 
scholarship,  but  by  a  true  spiritual  insight,  and  a  tender  affec- 
tion for  all  the  members  of  his  flock.  Neither  do  you  need  to 
be  reminded  how  conscientious  and  true  he  is  in  his  pastoral 
visitation,  especially  in  the  house  of  sorrow  and  the  chamber 
of  deatli.  If  it  is  true  that  the  mantles  of  the  departed  fall 
on  the  living,  tlicn  it  would  seem  to  me  that  the  beautiful 
mantle  of  my  fatlier's  meekness  rests  on  him,  and  that,  if  my 
sainted  father  is  permitted  to  look  upon  this  church  to-day,  a 
more  joyous  note  sounds  from  liis  golden  harp,  for  that  he 
sees  the  place  where  he  stood  so  long,  now  occupied  by  a  man 
peculiarly  after  his  own  heart.  These  things  I  would  have 
said  if  your  pastor  had  not  been  present. 

You  are  entering  on  the  second  century  of  your  existence 
as  a  church,  in  circumstances  of  peculiar  hopefulness.  The 
record  of  the  past  is  such  as  should  awaken  devoutest  thanks- 
giving. A  hundred  years  ago  to-day,  seven  earnest,  Christian 
men  subscribed  their  names  to  the  covenant  which  stands  on 


62 

first  page  of  your  earliest  records,  were  constituted  a  churcli 
of  the  living  God  and  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  received 
with  thankfulness  and  joy  their  first  ascension  gift  in  the 
settlement  of  a  pastor.  Four  hundred  and  sixty  persons  have 
been  admitted  to  its  communion  as  members  since,  making 
four  hundred  and  sixty-seven  in  all.  Of  this  entire  number, 
and  during  the  period  of  one  hundred  years,  only  twelve  have 
been  finally  excommunicated.  Your  present  number,  as  care- 
fully revised  by  your  pastor,  is  one  hundred  and  seventeen,  of 
whom  fifteen  are  absent,  leaving  one  hundred  and  two  resi- 
dent members.  Strong  attachment  to  the  great  doctrines  of 
the  Cross,  a  deep  interest  in  Christian  ordinances,  and  a 
steady  maintenance  of  the  monthly  concert,  the  Sabbath 
school,  and  the  weekly  prayer  meeting,  have  run,  like  so  many 
golden  threads,  througli  all  your  history ;  while  stated  contri- 
butions to  the  great  benevolent  enterprises  of  modern  times 
have  been  hardly  less  a  thing  of  course  with  you  than  the 
support  of  your  own  minister.  While  many  other  churches 
have  been  rent  by  strifes  and  divisions,  bringing  disastrous 
blight  on  their  spiritual  prosperity,  to  the  great  dishonor  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  the  destruction  of  the  souls  of  men,  you 
have  been  afc  peace  among  yourselves.  Is  it  not  a  remarkable 
fact,  calling  for  thanksgiving  to  God  for  his  superabounding 
grace,  that,  in  the  entire  period  of  one  hundred  years,  a  council 
has  never  once  been  called  for  the  adjustment  of  difficulties 
in  this  beloved  church  ? 

Four  of  your  number  have  been  preachers  of  the  gospel  and 
pastors  of  churches  of  the  same  faith  and  order  as  your  own. 
Two  of  the  four  have  gone  to  their  rest  and  reward,  and  two 
are  here  to-day,  to  participate  with  joy  in  the  exercises  of 
this  centennial  anniversary.  How  many  of  your  children, 
born,  baptized,  and  converted  here,  have  gone  away  to  be 
active  members  or  deacons  in  other  Christian  churches,  I  am 
unable  to  say.  The  number,  we  know,  has  not  been  small. 
Some  of  these,  too,  have  come  from  their  distant  homes  to 
visit  once  more  their  fathers'  graves,  and  to  mingle  their 
thanksgivings  and  prayers  with  yours  on  this  auspicious  day. 
Those  fathers'  graves,  and  mothers',  too :  how  inexpressibly 


63 

dear  to  our  hearts !  The  time  would  fail  us  only  to  mention 
their  names  to-day.  They  are  graven  indelibly  on  our  memo- 
ries, a  goodly  company.  Their  beautiful  consistency,  and 
their  steadfast,  patient.  Christian  life,  we  can  never  forget. 

There  are  some  of  you,  venerable  fathers,  with  the  com- 
panions of  your  youth,  hastening  to  join  that  blessed  company, 
who  well  remember  that  reverend  man  who  was  ordained  first 
pastor  of  this  church  one  hundred  years  ago  to-day :  how  he 
placed  his  hands  on  your  heads  and  blessed  you.  So  there 
may  bo  children  of  this  church,  yet  unborn,  who  shall  stand 
a  hundred  years  hence  where  we  stand  now,  the  small  rem- 
nant of  a  generation  that  shall  have  passed  away,  and  point 
to  the  name,  now  last,  but  which  will  then  stand  full  high  on 
the  list  of  pastors  who  will  have  preached  Christ's  glorious 
gospel  in  this  place,  and  tell,  with  loving  remembrance,  how 
his  kind  hand  was  laid  on  their  heads,  and  his  pleasant  voice 
carried  words  of  heavenly  wisdom  to  their  hearts.  "We  may 
not  know.  But  there  is  a  higher  thought.  It  is,  of  the  mighty 
changes  which  are  surely  coming  among  the  nations,  and  in 
the  kingdom  of  Christ,  during  the  next  one  hundred  years. 
In  this,  your  centennial  year,  great  events  have  happened, 
which  we  may  not  attempt  to  interpret,  but  which  are  full  of 
significance.  That  Franco-Prussian  war,  with  its  untold 
horrors  and  rivers  of  human  blood  ;  the  humbling  of  the  pride 
and  beauty  of  that  gay  metropolis,  whose  sorceries  have  cor- 
rupted the  nations  ;  the  death-blow  dealt  to  the  hoary  papacy, 
in  the  overthrow  of  the  temporal  power  of  its  arrogant  and 
impious  head  ;  and,  not  least,  the  awful  visitation  of  God  in 
the  destruction  by  fire  of  the  Empire  City  of  the  West,  simul- 
taneously with  that  of  villages  and  immense  forests  far  beyond  ; 
in  all  these,  assuredly,  we  must  acknowledge  signs  of  the 
coming  of  Him  by  whom  and  for  whom  this  church  exists, 
and  of  that  happier  day  when  the  kingdom,  and  the  dominion, 
and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven, 
shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High. 


64 


EXERCISES    AT    THE    TOW^    HALL. 


[See  Appendix,  Note  E.] 

Blessing  invoked  at  the  table  by  the  Rev.  George  D,  Ballentine,  of 
the  First  Baptist  Church. 

After  dinner,  the  compass  and  chain  by  which  the  town  of  San- 
bornton  was  originally  laid  out,  (1750-52),  furnished  by  Dr.  John  H. 
Sanborn,  of  Meredith  Village,  were  exhibited  to  the  audience.  Also 
the  Treatise  on  Surveying,  styled  "  Geodiesia,  or  the  Art  of  Sur- 
veying Made  Easy,"  and  bearing  the  imprint  of  "  London,  1753," 
by  the  aid  of  which  Sergt.  John  Sanborn,  the  first  who  settled  in  town, 
was  accustomed  to  "  run  his  lines  "  in  the  capacity  of  "  lot  layer." 

To  show  under  what  difficulties  and  hardships  the  new  settlers 
labored,  near  the  time  of  the  organizing  of  this  First  Church,  the 
"  Petition  of  Jan.  1768,"  was  read  by  Mr.  Runnels,  in  which  all  the 
then  inhabitants  of  the  town,  bewailing  in  pathetic  terras  their  hard  lot, 
pray  of  his  Excellency,  John  Wentworth,  Esq.,  Governor,  &c.,  to  be 
released  for  a  year  or  two  from  paying  the  customary  "  Province  Tax." 

A  copy  of  the  "Association  Test"  of  Sanbornton,  furnished  by 
Mr.  Charles  W.  Colby,  was  also  exhibited,  in  which  all  the  citizens 
then  in  town  hut  one  (under  date  of  July  3,  1776)  pledge  themselves 
to  "  oppose  with  arms  the  hostile  attempts  of  the  British  Fleets  and 
Armies." 

The  Marshal  next  delivered  a  brief  address  of  welcome,  stating  the 
joy  and  satisfaction  which  it  afforded  the  present  members  of  the 
Church  and  Parish  to  greet  and  try  to  entertain  their  friends  from 
abroad  on  this  occasion.  He  wished  to  have  all  feel  free,  like  chil- 
dren at  a  family  re-union,  and  to  indulge  in  their  remembrances  of  the 
past. 

Though  he  should  call  for  the  "  regular  toasts,"  prepared  by  the 
Pastor  for  this  occasion,  he  would  also  invite  volunteer  sentiments, 
reminiscences  or  remarks  at  any  time.  He  also  stated  that  inasmuch 
as  we  have  now  assembled  in  the  Town  Hall  the  exercises  might  in 


66 

in  a  measure  partake  of  the  more  general  character  of  a  Town  Cele- 
bration. 

TOASTS. 

[See  Appendix,  Note  F.l 
(1.)  "  The  younger  Congregational  Churches  of  Franklin  and  of 
TiUon.  They  may  well  regard  this  Centenary  Church  of  Sanbornton, 
in  part  at  least,  as  the  motlier  of  them  both.  Though  they  must  increase 
while  she  may  decrease,  yet  let  the  bonds  of  a  common  faith  and  a 
common  polity  ever  tenderly  unite  this  trio  of  churches  to  one  another, 
and  to  Christ." 

Response  by  the  Rev.  Theo.  C.  Pratt,  of  Tilton,  who  began  by  saying 
that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Curtice,  his  predecessor,  or  the  Rev.  Dr.  Savage,  of 
Franklin,  were  they  present,  as  had  been  expected,  might  more  ap- 
propriately respond  to  this  sentiment ;  "  for  they  have  known  you  a 
quarter  of  a  century  or  more,  while  I  am  but  a  babe  of  less  than  two 
years  in  my  accpiaintance  with  you.  However,  as  children  are  al- 
lowed at  family  gatherings  to  say  something,  I  would  add,  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  (he  Church  of  Northfield  and  Tilton,  that  we  are  not 
ashamed  of  the  mother  church  at  Sanbornton  Square,  but  rather 
proud  of  our  connection  with  the  noble  men  whose  lives  have  been 
referred  to  so  touchingly  and  appropriately  in  the  address  of  the  day." 

In  conclusion  he  reminded  the  company  that  little  had  been  said  of 
the  mothers  and  sisters  in  Israel  and  much  of  the  fathers  and  broth- 
ers ;  he  also  playfully  criticised  the  orator  in  this  respect ;  but  being 
informed  that  the  omission  would  be  made  good,  he  yielded  the 
tloor. 

(2.)  "  Our  sister  churches  of  other  names  in  Sanbornton  and  vicin- 
ity. May  they  cast  the  mantle  of  charity  over  that'  mistaken  affec- 
tion which  would  have  retained  them  longer  than  seemed  desirable 
within  the  old  family  circle  of  the  original  Church. 

Now,  as  for  many  years  past,  may  we  all  as  churches  walk  together 
'  in  the  unity  of  the  spirit  and  in  the  bond  of  peace.' " 

Responded  to  by  Rev.  Geo.  D.  Ballentine,  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  Sanbornton,  and  Rev.  E.  P.  Moulton,  of  the  Free  Will 
Baptist  Church,  Union  Bridge. 

Mr.  Ballentine  said :  "  Like  my  friend  who  has  just  preceded  me, 

I  feel  that  I  am  but  a  child  in  knowledge,  so  far  as  the  history  of  the 

neighboring  churches  is  concerned,  having  been  a  resident  in  town 

but  a  little  over  a  year.  But  in  behalf  of  my  own  church,  and  for  myself, 

9 


66 

I  can  say  that  we  most  cordially  extend  to  this  church  and  their  be- 
loved pastor,  both  our  hearts  and  our  hands  in  the  great  interests  of 
our  common  Lord  and  Master.  I  can  freely  add  that  I  have  felt  as 
much  at  Jiome  to-day,  as  I  should  have  done  at  a  similar  gathering  in 
my  own  denomination.  I  was  deeply  interested  in  the  very  able  ad- 
dress made  this  forenoon  by  Dr.  Bodwell,  and  think  that  this  church 
has  abundant  reason  to  be  thankful  for  the  very  remarkable  degree  of 
prosperity  which  they  have  enjoyed  for  the  century  which  has  just 
come  to  so  successful  a  close." 

Mr.  Moulton's  remarks  not  reported. 

(3.)  "  The  two  first  deacons  of  this  Church,  Benjamin  Darling 
and  Nathaniel  Tilton.  For  both  were  we  indebted  to  that  part  of  the 
original  parish  which  now  holds  up  the  name  of  one  of  the  two — through 
his  numerous  and  influential  descendants — the  name  of  'Tilton,'" 

The  Rev.  C.  W.  Millen,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  Tilton,  responded 
substantially  as  follows  : 

"  This  sentiment  would  more  naturally  fall  upon  some  one  of  the 
descendants  of  the  old  Dea.  Tilton,  inasmuch  as  we  have  them  with 
us.  However,  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  have  some  part  in  the  festivi- 
ties of  this  occasion.  The  eminence  we  occupy  to-day  enables  us  to 
survey  one  hundred  eventful  years  in  connection  with  this  grand  old 
town. 

I  observed  in  Dr.  Bodwell's  discourse  that  the  Sanborns  played  a 
prominent  part  in  its  early  history,  and  I  have  taken  it  for  granted 
that  the  town  took  its^name  from  them.  In  this  section  they  resided, 
and  here  was  the  centre  of  commercial  enterprise  ;  but  the  manufac- 
turing facilities  of  the  valley  drew  the  people  thither,  and  at  length 
the  most  populous  part  of  Sanbornton  was  that  portion  now  called 
Tilton,  from  the  fact  that  the  Tdtons  were  involved,  to  a  great  extent, 
in  the  prosperity  of  the  village.  In  that  part  of  old  Sanbornton  it 
seems  the  first  deacons  of  this  church  resided.  I  am  glad  that  a 
century  ago  the  Tiltons  were  noted  for  their  piety.  They  are  now 
noted,  at  least,  for  their  wealth.  There  is  an  intimate  relation  be- 
tween piety  and  prosperity ;  even  between  the  piety  of  parents  and 
the  prosperity  of  children.  Deacon  Nathaniel  Tilton,  I  doubt  not, 
was  like  Nathaniel  of  old,  'an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  there  was  no 
guile.'  His  children,  '  blessed  after  him,'  I  hope  will  yet  become  dea- 
cons'themselves  ;"at  least  be  in  every  way  qualified  for  the  office — 
'  grave,  not  double-tongued,  not  given  to  much  wine,  not  greedy  of 
filthy  lucre,  holding  the  mystery  of  the  faith  in  a  pure  conscience.' 
The  other  deacon  was  Benjamin  Darling.     It  appears  that  he  also 


67 

lived  in  the  same  portion  of  the  town.  His  descendants,  I  think,  are 
not  numerous  in  this  section.  I  remember  of  having  read  of  a  dar- 
ling Benjamin,  but  this  seems  to  have  been  a  Benjamin  Darling.  I 
suppose  as  the  former  was  the  darling  son  of  his  father,  so  the  latter 
was  the  darling  father  of  a  numerous  offspring. 

May  the  memory  of  each  of  these  deacons — so  green  to-day — be 
cherished  a  hundred  years  to  come." 

Capt.  Jonathan  P.  Sanborn,  also  from  Tilton,  corrected  the  impres- 
sion, in  part  entertained  by  the  last  speaker,  that  Sanbornton  was  so 
named  because  of  the  great  number  of  settlers  by  that  name ;  rather 
because  many  of  the  proprietors  were  Sanborns.  He  also  stated  the 
fact  that  during  a  portion  of  the  first  winter,  his  grand-father,  Sergt. 
John  Sanborn,  already  mentioned,  spent  in  that  part  of  Sanbornton, 
which  is  now  Tilton,  no  less  than  jive  families  were  domiciled  in  the 
single  room  which  he  had  finished  off  in  his  house,  the  beds  being 
turned  up  in   the  day  time  and  entirely  covering  the  floor  at  night! 

This  prepared  the  way  for  the  next  sentiment.     (See  Appendix, 

Note  G.) 

(4.)  "The  Sanborns  of  our  ancient  town.  Prominent  alike  among 
its  original  grantees,  its  earliest  settlers  and  its  most  distinguished, 
useful  and  exemplary  citizens,  'through  all  their  generations.'  Their 
name  is  most  appropriately  as  well  as  permanently  embalmed  in  the 
name  of  Sanbornton." 

Response  by  N.  H.  Sanborn,  Esq.,  of  Franklin  :  "  I  should  have 
been  glad  had  some  abler  name-sake  been  called  to  respond  to  this 
sentiment. 

I  am  proud  of  the  family  name  of  Sanborn  you  have  so  generous- 
ly honored,  and  I  venerate  the  fathers  for  having  left  us  so  good  a 
name.  I  rejoice  to  be  numbered  among  the  sons  of  "  Old  Sanborn- 
ton," and  I  still  claim  to  be  a  citizen  of  Sanbornton  as  it  was,  al- 
though a  more  recent  reconstruction  of  municipal  lines  places  my  resi- 
dence in  a  neighboring  town.  The  name  of  Sanborn,  so  far  as  we 
are  able  to  trace  it,  originated  with  John  Sanborn,  of  Derbyshire, 
England.  He  was  born  about  1600,  and  married  a  daughter  of  Rev. 
Stephen  Bachilor,  by  whom  he  had  three  sons. 

Two  of  these,  John  and  William  Sanborn,  better  known  as  Lieut. 
John  and  Esq.  William,  settled  permanently  in  Hampton ;  and  from 
them  have  descended  the  large  family  of  Sanborns  in  this  country— 
their  descendants  numbering  more  than  5000.  As  a  race  they  have 
been  robust,  industrious  and  frugal ;  and  although  they  may  not  have 
attained    distinguished  eminence,  they  have   left  us  a  family  name 


68 

alike  creditable  for  respectability  and  honesty.  John  Sanborn,  of 
Hampton,  grand-son  of  Esq.  William,  obtained  the  original  grant  of  the 
township  of  Sanbornton  (dated  December  31, 1748,)  from  the  proprie- 
tors of  lands  purchased  of  John  Tufton  Mason.  His  name  stands  at 
the  head  of  the  long  list  of  the  grantees  of  the  town,  in  honor  of 
whose  family  name  the  town  was  called. 

He  was  a  man  of  ability  and  influence,  and  represented  the  town  of 
Hampton  for  many  years  in  the  Provincial  Government. 

One  of  the  first  concerns  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  town  was  to  pro- 
vide for  and  maintain  religious  public  worship,  and.  to  establish  the 
Christian  Church,  on  the  faith  and  polity  of  the  Pilgrim  fathers.  We 
meet  to-day  to  celebrate  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  accom- 
plishment of  that  noble  purpose. 

Of  the  seven  original  members  of  the  church  then  established,  four 
bear  the  Sanborn  name,  and  the  records  of  the  church  for  the  past 
century  show  that  more  than  one  hundred  of  the  same  name  have 
been  enrolled  among  its  members. 

What  a  power  for  good  has  resulted  from  the  planting  of  this 
church !  Who  can  estimate  its  influence  in  mouldins:  the  character 
and  institutions  of  this  town  which  for  so  long  a  time  took  high  rank 
among  the  towns  of  the  State! 

I  am  glad  to  be  with  you  to-day  in  this  re-union  of  the  sons  of  old 
Sanbornton,  to  commemorate  the  noble  work  of"  the  Fathers,  who, 
amid  the  difficulties  and  hardships  of  a  new  settlement  far  removed 
into  the  interior,  sacrificed  so  much  to  establish  here  the  principles  of 
the  Chrisiian  faith,  and  lay  the  foundation  of  the  future  prosperity 
and  happiness  of  the  town. 

In  conclusion  allow  me  to  congratulate  you  on  the  success  and 
felicity  of  this  occasion,  and  to  thank  you  for  the  generous  hospitality 
and  the  friendship  and  cordiality  that  have  characterized  the  en- 
tire celebration." 

(5.)  "  The  Hon.  Nathan  Taylor,  foremost  among  the  then  citizens 
of  Sanbornton  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution  :  foremost  in  peace,  and 
foremost  both  in  the  esteem  of  his  fellow  townsmen,  and  in  the  hearts 
of  his  Christian  brethren  of  this  church." 

The  Rev.  Frederic  T.  Perkins  being  called  upon  remarked  that  he 
would  cheerfully  respond  to  the  sentiment  proposed  as  best  he  could ; 
for  that  it  seemed  to  him  befitting  the  character  of  that  noble  man, 
who  in  many  respects  strongly  resembled  the  "  Father  of  our  Coun- 
try," and  also  because  of  a  just  pride  in  him  as  a  relative,  and  as  one 
of  the  noblest  citizens  and  most  perfect  Christian  gentlemen  that  ever 


lived  in  the  town.  That  portrait  of  the  Hon.  Nathan  Taylor  brings 
up  before  us  a  man  of  fine  symmetrical  form,  of  graceful  and  dignified 
manners  ;  and,  though  of  great  decision  and  energy,  yet  also  of  great 
courtesy  and  refinement ;  a  beautiful  type  of  the  Christian  gentle- 
man who  commanded  the  respect  of  all.  We  all  felt  honored  and 
improved  by  his  presence  ;  and  gladly  would  we  have  shown  him  the 
respect  formerly  paid  to  "  Priest  Woodman,"  as,  on  the  Lord's  day, 
he  approached  the  meeting-house,  when,  all  arranged  in  file,  stood 
with  uncovered  heads,  as  he  passed  in.  No  other  man  ever  so  im- 
pressed upon  this  community  the  beautiful  lesson  of  Christian 
courtesy  as  did  Mr.  Taylor. 

Recognized  as  a  man  of  sound  judgment  and  pure  motives,  he  was 
respected  and  trusted  by  all. 

In  all  local  affairs,  his  words,  though  few,  had  great  weight ;  and 
his  judgment,  when  given,  was,  with  many,  decisive.  He  was  called 
to  fill  many  positions  of  responsibility  and  honor.  He  was  a  man  of 
the  purest  patriotism.  Entered  the  army  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolutionary  war,  served  his  country  well,  bore  his  scar  of  honor 
through  life,  and  the  pension  to  which  entitled  he  nobly  refused  till 
the  death  of  his  father,  (also  an  officer  in  the  army,)  saying  that  "  one 
pension  in  a  family  was  enough." 

The  speaker  thought  that  by  virtue  of  his  connection,  through  his 
father,  with  the  Hon.  Nathan  Taylor,  and  with  old  "  Master  Per- 
kins," and  through  his  mother,  with  old  Doctor  Sanborn,  and  that 
grand  woman,  the  Doctor's  wife,  he  had  about  as  much  of  Sanborn- 
ton  in  him  as  any  other  living  man  !  Alluding  to  the  interest  felt  in 
the  historical  address  he  said  :  "  The  Lord  makes  some  very  queer 
things  ;  and  Brother  Bodwell  here  is  one  of  them.  He  is  veri/  dry 
looking,  and  yet  we  sat  two  whole  hours  listening  to  him — and  it  did 
not  seem  long — so  intensely  interested  were  we  in  his  discourse ! 
There  was  not  a  dry  thing  in  it !  And  my  good  brother  here,  though 
so  lean,  is — as  was  his  discourse — all  full  of  the  sweet  juices  of  wit 
and  humor.  But  as  to  swallowing  all  he  said  about  the  size  of  the 
old  meeting-house  on  the  hill,  as  only  60  by  43  feet ;  all  that  won't 
go  down  !  Just  as  if  any  body  who  ever  saw  that  old  house  were  to 
believe  any  such  thing  !  That  stately  old  house,  not  so  large  as  this 
newer  one  !  Why,  that  was  the  biggest  house  ever  seen !  How  high 
it  stood !  How  grand  it  looked  to  all  the  people  on  this  side  of  the 
circling  hills,  from  the  Gilford  to  the  Ragged  Mountains." 

The  speaker  said  he  had  seen  the  Trinity  and  other  large  churches  in 
New  York,  (where  they  have  many  big  things,  besides  big  thieves  and 


70 

other  political  rascals,)  and  the  large  churches  of  Chicago  which  the 
flames  have  made  so  small ;  but  never  saw  any  that  seemed  half  so 
large  as  the  "  old  meeting-house  "  on  the  hill !  Why,  so  large  was 
it,  that  to  help  the  sound,  so  that  the  minister  could  be  heard  by  all  the 
people,  there  was  that  curious  thing  up  over  the  minister's  head !  The 
great  interest  felt  by  the  youngsters  in  that  "  sounding  boai'd,"  was  in 
the  fact  that  it  looked  as  though  it  might  come  down  some  day  !  and 
our  speculations  used  to  be  on  the  probable  results  to  the  minister's 
head,  being  wickedly  curious  to  see  how  it  would  strike  ! 

Among  other  notable  things  about  tlie  old  meeting-house,  reference 
was  made  to  the  great  singing  of  those  days.  We  hear  famous  sing- 
ers, choirs  and  choruses,  in  our  day ;  but  nothing  like  the  singing  up 
there  in  that  old  gallery,  under  the  lead  and  inspiration  of  Charles 
Jesse  Stewart.  How  he  loomed  up — all  full  of  music  from  head  to 
foot — fit  to  be  the  leader  of  Asaph,  Heman,  and  Jeduthan  ;  with 
"  Dea.  Joe,"  Robert  Hunkins,  Mr.  Ordway,  Mary  Edmunds,  Betsy 
Brown,  Julia  Morrison  and  others  ;  how  they  used  to  sing !  O,  for 
an  old  "  fugue"  by  such  a  choir,  as  in  those  days  made  the  great  house 
tremble  from  top  to  bottom  ! 

After  some  other  playful  remarks,  the  thought  was  seriously  and 
earnestly  presented  that  the  cumulative  influences  and  forces  of  the 
past  have  come  down  to  make  the  present  generation  what  it  is  ;  that 
what  we  have  received  of  good  we  are  bound  to  transmit ;  that  by 
what  we  are  and  do  we  help  shape  the  character  of  coming  gener- 
ations ;  that  we  should  improve  upon  the  past  and  make  the  future 
better  than  the  present ;  so  that  the  blessing  of  the  God  of  our 
fathers  and  mothers  may,  with  ever  increasing  richness,  rest  upon 
our  beloved  old  church  and  town. 

(6.)  "  The  oldest  present  member  of  this  church,  and  the  oldest 
living  citizen  of  the  town  ; — a  wonderful  instance  of  a  cheerful,  use- 
ful and  vigorous  old  age — himself  the  grand-son  of  the  first  and 
longest  continued  instructor  of  youth  in  Sanbornton.  May  he  ever 
be  young." 

The  venerable   Capt.  John   B.  Perkins,  in  response  to  the  above, 
came  forward  to  the  stand  with   the  sprightUness  of  youth,  amid   the 
applause  of  the  audience  and  humorously  remarked  : 
"  You'd  scarce  expect  one  of  my  age 
To  speak  in  public  on  the  stage," 

(renewed  applause)  alluding  to  the  fact  that  this  was  the  first  time  he 
had  ever  attempted  to  make  a  public  speech.  "  Although,"  said  he, 
"  I  shall  be  88  years  of  age  the  16th  of  next  May,  almost  old  enough  to 


71 

be  reckoned  among  the  aborigines,  from  whom  they  used  to  tell  me 
I  was  descended  !  " 

He  then  spoke  of  his  well-remembered  school  days  under  the  in- 
struction of  his  grand-father,  "Master"  Abraham  Perkins,  when 
the  days  of  his  going  home  from  school  without  a  flogging  were  the 
exception  and  not  the  rule,  and  were  always  attended  as  he  left  the 
school-room,  with  a  peculiarly  grateful  sensation  ! 

He  acknowledged  that  he  was  the  young  man  alluded  to  by  Dr. 
Bodwell  in  his  address,  who  was  selling  "the  ardent"  or  rather  aid- 
ing in  that  work,  on  the  day  of  his  father's  ordination  ;  but  pleaded  in 
extenuation  the  great  difference  in  public  sentiment  between  that  age 
and  the  present. 

"  Formerly  everybody  drank,  and  the  standard  of  respectability 
was  found  not,  as  now,  in  total  abstinence,  but  in  being  able  after  par- 
taking of  the  usual  drams,  to  go  tlirough  the  door  of  the  room  (point- 
ing to  the  door  with  his  cane)  without  hitting  both  sides  of  the 
entrance ! " 

In  conclusion,  he  again  gratefully  alluded  to  the  good  old  age  to 
which  a  kind  Providence  had  spared  him,  and  to  the  satisfaction  he 
took  in  being  present  on  this  centennial  anniversary  of  his  beloved 
church,  together  with  the  companion  of  his  youth,  now  nearly  as  old 
as  himself,  and  with  all  three  of  their  children. 

This,  for  popular  effect,  was  decidedly  the  speech  of  the  occasion, 
to  which  his  son,  the  Rev.  F.  T.  Perkins,  added :  "  When  the  mar- 
shal of  the  day  intimated  to  me  that  he  was  about  to  call  out  my 
father  for  a  speech,  and  that  perhaps  it  might  be  well  for  me  to  fol- 
low him  with  a  few  words,  I  supposed  it  was  on  the  idea  that  the  old 
gentleman  might  "  get  stuck  "  or  "  break  down,"  or  something  of 
that  sort.  If  he  had  any  such  apprehension,  I  am  quite  sure  he  will 
not  have  the  next  time  when  he  may  call  him  out.  For  plainly  the 
youngish  gentleman  has  outdone  us  all,  and  I  am  very  confident  that 
with  time  and  practice  he  will  be  able  to  make  his  own  speeches. 
This,  his  opening  speech,  shows  that  he  may  come  to  something 
yet." 

(7.)  "Prominent  among  the  officers  of. the  town  and  of  the  church, 
ever  loved  and  respected  in  the  sacred  ministry,  and  in  various  private 
walks  of  life,  appears  the  name  of  Lane." 

Response  by  Dea.  Redford  W.  Lane,  of  Nashua,  Avho  spoke  of 
the  commingled  feelings  of  pleasure  and  sadness  he  experienced  on 
being  present  on  that  occasion.       It  gave  him  pleasure  to  look  upon 


72 

the  hills  and  the  valleys  that  in  former  days  were  so  familiar,  and 
which  remained  unchanged,  as  also  many  of  the  dwellings,  appearing 
very  much  as  in  the  days  of  his  boyhood ;  but  there  was  a  feeling  of 
sadness  in  the  thought  of  the  great  changes  that  had  taken  place  in  the 
occupants  of  those  dwellings.  There  was  pleasure,  too,  in  meeting 
and  exchanging  cordial  greetings  with  so  many  of  his  former  friends 
and  acquaintances,  but  a  shade  of  sadness  in  the  thought  that,  in  all 
probability,  it  would  be  his  last  and  only  opportunity  of  so  doing  with 
most  of  them.  As  they  had  been  invited  by  the  marshal  to  talk 
over  the  remembrances  of  the  past,  he  related  some  of  his  recol- 
lections of  the  old  meeting  house  upon  the  hill,  with  its  broad  aisle 
from  the  entrance  in  front  to  the  elevated  pulpit  in  the  rear,  with 
gallery  in  front  for  the  singers  and  extending  around  upon  either  side, 
with  the  square  pews  upon  the  wall  where  unruly  boys  would  some- 
times so  forget  the  proprieties  of  the  time  and  place  as  to  occasion  an 
admonition  by  a  loud  rap  from  some  sober  minded  person  present, 
calling  their  attention  to  the  fact  as  well  as  that  of  the  congregation, 
and  designating  them  by  the  pointing  of  his  finger.  In  those  days 
''  we  had  no  bell  to  admonish  us  of  the  time  for  commencing  services, 
and  making  our  way  to  church  on  Sabbath  morning  from  the  neigh- 
borhood where  I  resided,  when  we  came  in  sight  of  the  residence  of 
the  Hon.  Nathan  Taylor,  (already  alluded  to,  whose  portrait  hangs 
before  you,)  and  saw  his  horse  harnessed  to  the  chaise  and  standing 
at  the  door  ready  to  take  the  family  to  meeting,  we  were  all  right, 
for  he  was  not  only  constant  in  attendence  but  prompt  as  to  time." 

"The  good  people  of  Sanbornton  then  attended  the  sanctuary 
through  the  cold  winter  season  without  any  of  the  conveniences  and 
comforts  of  the  present  day,  with  no  relief  from  the  stinging  cold  as 
they  sat  there  through  the  long  service  except  the  small  foot  stoves 
brought  by  some  of  the  ladies  with  a  few  coals  from  the  hearth,  to 
keep  their  feet  warm  ;  and  yet  there  were  as  few  then  who  would 
allow  themselves  to  be  detained  from  attending  public  worship  on 
account  of  inclement  weather  as  there  are  now,  when  we  have  our 
meeting  houses  warmed  and  made  comfortable." 

(Note. — Had  there  been  time  the  speaker  would  have  alluded  to 
the  Lanes  of  Sanbornton.  Four  brothers,  Samuel,  John,  David,  and 
Joshua, — sons  of  John  Lane,  of  Kensington, — settled  in  Sanbornton 
prior  to  1800.  Of  these,  Samuel  was  the  3d  Deacon  of  the  church 
and  a  man  of  rare  benevolence  and  excellence  of  character.  John 
S.  Lane,  the  sixth  child  of  Dea.  Samuel,  was  also  a  deacon   of  the 


73 

church  [see  Appendix,  notes  B.  and  H.].  The  widow  of  a  fifth  broth- 
er, Joseph,  with  her  nine  children,  moved  to  town  in  1813.  Of 
these  children  were  the  Rev.  Joseph  Lane, — first  a  missionary  among 
the  Indians,  then  a  pastor  in  Franklin  three  years,  and  lastly  Secre- 
tary of  the  New  Hampshire  Bible  Society  ten  years,  till  his  death  in 
1850, — Richard  Lane,  an  earnest  Cliristian  who  was  deacon  of  this 
church  for  14  years, — and  the  speaker,  of  whom,  as  we  go  to  press, 
we  are  pained  thus  early  to  make  the  following  announcement  from 
the  Boston  Journal  of  March  18th  :  "Mr.  R.  W.  Lane,  one  of  the 
first  citizens  of  Nashua,  N.  H.,  and  for  22  years  Clerk  of  the  Jack- 
son Manufacturing  Company,  died  on  the  16th  inst.,  after  a  brief 
illness  of  pneumonia,  aged  63  years.  Mr.  Lane  was  a  deacon  in  the 
Pearl  street  Congregational  Church,  and  a  kindly  gentleman  of  man- 
ifold virtues,  whose  sudden  death  has  c^st  a  gloom  over  the  commu- 
nity.") 

At  this  stage  of  the  meeting  the  orator  of  the  day  improved  his 
opportunity  to  reply  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Perkins,  and  said  :  "  It  is  evident 
from  his  remarks  that  my  brother  Perkins  thinks  he  is  better  look- 
ing than  I  am.  I  admit  it,  and  I  can  tell  you  the  reason  ;  his  ances- 
tors were  born  in  Sanbornton,  mine  were  not.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  if  my  grandfathers  and  grandmothers  had  been  born 
among  these  hills,  as  his  were,  I  should  have  been  nearly  as  hand- 
some as  my  brother,  and  as  portly  as  our  friend  Dea.  Bodwell 
Sanborn. 

I  can  assure  you  that  I  was  a  very  goodlookiug  individual  in  my 
earlier  days.  When  I  was  a  boy,  in  the  Academy  we  had  an  "  ex- 
hibition "  at  the  close  of  the  term,  and  as  the  part  of  a  young  lady 
was  assigned  to  me,  I  had  to  appear  in  female  costume,  and  the 
Hon.  Nathan  Taylor,  to  whom  my  brother  has  alluded,  mistook  me 
for  the  prettiest  girl  in  town.     I  grew  very  homely  after  that. 

I  want  to  say  another  word,  in  pursuance  of  the  second  sentiment 
and  the  remarks  of  Bro.  Ballentine, — about  good  "  Elder  Crockett," 
whom  I  so  well  remember.  His  benevolent  countenance  and  large 
head  sat  on  ample  shoulders.  He  wore  top  boots  and  breeches,  and 
sat  well  in  the  saddle,  riding  a  horse  which  appeared  as  if  it  had  been 
made  to  order  for  his  particular  use,  and  carrying  always  a  stout  cane 
with  a  crook.  In  this  way  he  and  my  father  'rode  many  miles 
together  over  these  jjleasant  hills,  and  very  beautiful  was  their  mutual 
love  and  friendship,  \vhich  lasted  till  death  separated  them.  They 
met  often  in  social  circles,  and  would  be  seated  side  by  side  at  the 
tea  table,  when  Elder  Crockett  would  become  so  absorbed,  as  on 
10 


74 

one  occasion,  in  conversation  with  my  father,  that  he  would  press 
closer  and  closer  to  him,  and  at  last  quite  unconsciously  appropriate 
his  cup  of  tea ! 

Some  of  you  remember  the  singing  to  which  our  brother  Perkins 
has  referred,  in  that  old  meeting-house  on  the  hill.  My  impressions 
quite  agree  with  his.  There  was  the  choir  of  men  and  women  that 
nearly  filled  the  front  of  the  long  gallery  opposite  the  pulpit,  with 
the  accompaniment  of  stringed  instruments  and  sometimes  of  flute, 
clarionet,  and  bassoon  besides. 

How  well  I  remember  the  portly  form  of  Dea.  Joseph  Sanborn, 
with  bass  voice  like  the  stop  of  an  organ,  and  Richard  Hazleton, 
with  tenor  of  surpassing  purity  and  sweetness,  and  Betsy  Brown, 
whose  rich  soprano  suited  well  the  beauty  of  her  countenance,  and 
many  others  of  varied  excellence,  all  under  the  grand  leadership  of 
Charles  Jesse  Stuart,  the  lawyer,  who  stood  so  erect  and  proudly  at 
their  head,  the  green  plaid  cloak,  which  was  the  fashion  of  the  day, 
hanging  carelessly  from  his  ample  shoulders.  Don't  you  remember 
old  "  Denmark"  on  Thanksgiving  day? 

"  Before  Jehovah's  awful  throne." 

I  was  a  child  then,  and  I  have  not  often  heard  singing  since  which 
has  moved  me  as  that  did.  As  I  look  back  it  seems  to  have  made 
quite  as  large  a  part  of  the  pleasures  of  my  Thanksgiving  day  as 
plumb  pudding  and  mince  pie. 

I  think  I  may  say  that  the  singers  in  this  congregation  in  those 
days  were  rather  remarkable,  both  for  time  and  tune.  Yet  they 
sometimes  made  mistakes.  You  remember  "  Uncle  William,"  the 
father  of  Deacon  Joseph  Sanborn,  who  used  to  sit  in  the  square  cor- 
ner pew,  next  to  that  of  Lieut.  Perkins.  A  man  of  stalwart  pro- 
portions and  great  muscular  power,  who  came  to  meeting  in  breeches, 
Lis  ample  calves  covered  with  those  thick  woolen  stockings,  colored 
to  deep  blue  in  the  "  dye  pot,"  always  standing  in  the  chimney  cor- 
ner of  the  huge  fire  place,  in  every  farm  house  in  that  day,  his  broad 
shoulders  covered  by  a  drab  great  coat  of  stout  English  cloth,  which 
no  rain  could  penetrate.  That  coat  is  still  extant.  Our  friend 
Deacon  Bodwell  Sanborn,  the  grandson,  finds  it  an  excellent  pro- 
tection when  he  has  to  go  in  a  heavy  rain  storm  to  fetch  the  cows. 

Uncle  William  had  been  a  grand  singer  in  his  day,  but  had  retired 
from  the  singers'  gallery  to  the  family  pew.  On  a  certain  pleasant 
Sunday,  as  the  lasge  choir  were  laboring  under  stress  of  evident  dif- 
ficulty through  one  of  Watts'  unequalled  hymns,  the  old  man  was  ob- 
served to  be  uneasy  in  his  seat,  and  gazing  with  a  troubled  counte- 


75 

nance  at  the  singers,  till  at  last,  unable  to  bear  it^any  longer,  he  rose 
to  his  full  height,  and  said  in  clear  tones  and  with  unmistakable  em- 
phasis, "  You  hain't  got  the  right  jiitch,  and  you  make  an  awful 
noise  !  " 

I  must  not  sit  down  without  saying  another  word  about  this  town 
of  Sanbornton,  so  sur|)assingly  beautiful,  and  so  dear  to  all  her  sons 
and  daughters  wheresoever  in  the  wide  world  they  go.  I  remember 
when  its  boundaries  were,  to  a  large  extent,  the  waters  of  the  Winne- 
pisiogee  and  the  Pemigewasset,  and  how  I  used  to  stand  on  ''Meet- 
ing-house Hill "  on  a  bright  autumn  morning  and  gaze  on  the  beauti- 
ful wreath  of  fog  that  lay  along  the  great  valleys  and  indicated  the 
course  of  the  rivers  and  the  boundaries  of  my  native  town.  I  do 
not  accept  the  changes  which  have  been  made,  and,  above  all,  the 
neighborhood  where  are  dwelling  to-day  the  descendants  of  those 
noble  men  who  gave  its  name  to  the  town,  is  Sanbornton  still,  and 
must  always  be  Sanbornton.  To  call  it  by  another  name  is,  to  me,  as 
if  you  should  erase  from  the  stone  which  stands  above  the  grave  of 
the  first  minister  of  the  town  the  revered  name  of  Woodman,  and 
engrave  Smith  or  Johnson  instead.  But  I  have  no  right  to  be  talking 
here  after  your  very  kind  and  patient  attention  to  my  long  address 
in  the  other  house,  and  so  I  sit  down." 

(8.)  ''The  Deacon  who  always  used  to  occupy  the  "Deacon's 
seat"  in  the  old  hill  meetinghouse,  Dea.  Benjamin  Philbrick.  We 
welcome  among  us  to-day  another  Philbrick,  a  son  of  this  parish 
who  has  gone  up  higher,  to  the  sacred  desk." 

(It  was  expected  that  the  Rev.  Nathan  P.  Philbrick,  of  Northfield, 
would  have  responded  to  this  sentiment,  but  he  had  been  called  away 
on  account  of  illness.  Dea.  PhUbrick  was  one  of  seven  brothers 
who  settled  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  town.) 

(9.)  "  The  Prescotts  of  old  Sanbornton,  who  used  to  travel  six 
miles  on  horseback  by  families  every  Sabbath,  from  the  most  remote 
and  rugged  corner  of  the  town,  to  attend  this  sanctuary  of  our  God." 

(Dea.  Joseph  Prescott,  of  Hill,  grandson  of  Maj.  Joseph,  who 
first  settled  in  the  New  State  (northwest  corner  of  town),  was  pre- 
pared to  respond,  but  had  been  obliged  to  leave  on  account  of  the 
lateness  of  the  hour.) 

(10.)  "  The  ladies  of  our  united  towns.  Formerly  accustomed  to 
play  skillfully  upon  the  hand  loom  and  spinning  wheel,  as  their  chief 
instruments  of  music ;  now,  though  in  great  measure  having  exchanged 
these  for  the  piano-forte  and  the  sewing  machine,  yet  we  know  they 


76 

will   not  forget    their    relations    to    us    of  the  sterner  sex   as   our 
wives  and  daughters,  our  sisters  and  mothers." 

Response  by  Mr.  Richard  Ward,  of  Boston.  "  Looking  back  as 
far  as  I  can,  I  see  upon  the  uncarpeted,  unpainted  floors  piles  of 
wool,  or  flax,  or  tow.  I  see  the  big  high  spinning  wheel  and  the  low 
linen  wheel:  the  quilling  wheel  and  swifts;  the  loom,  with  big 
beam,  little  beam,  harness,  and  reed.  I  see  the  warp  wound  tightly 
round  the  beam  and  stretching  forward  through  the  harness  and 
reed  ;  the  quill  box  full  of  wound  quills,  and  the  shuttle  beside  the 
box.  And  there,  on  a  thick,  hard  plank  seat  or  bench,  I  see  a 
Sanbornton  woman  with  her  two  feet  upon  the  treadles.  Half 
the  warp  goes  up  and  half  down,  and  at  each  change  in  the  warp 
the  shuttle  flies  through  and  through  with  the  filling.  Noble,  loving 
mothers  of  noble,  loving  daughters  ! 

Use  is  the  end  of  all  God's  works  and  words,  and  these  women 
were  truly  useful. 

By  short  stages  or  removes  they  had  found  tlieir  way  through  the 
Wilderness  from  Hampton  Beach  to  KeUey's  Ledge.  Their  wan- 
dei'ings  and  hardships  had  worn  off  the  old  English  polish,  but  not  a 
jot  of  the  pure,  warm  love  in  their  hearts  had  been  lost.  They  could 
take  good  care  of  8,  10,  or  12  children  and  one  at  the  breast,  do  all 
their  housework,  spin  or  weave  a  maid's  stent,  and  have  strength  to 
brag  of  it  at  night. 

What  is  a  modern  factory  with  500  spindles  compared  to  50  of 
these  women  ? 

The  men  resolved  and  voted  that  "  ye  meetinghouse  shall  be  raised 
and  boarded  before  "  such  a  day.     But  it  wasn't. 

The  women  resolved,  and  then  carded,  spun,  dyed,  wove,  cut,  and 
made  their  husbands'  and  sons'  clothes,  and  voted  them  into  the 
clothes,  and  they  were  there  on  or  before  the  day  named  in  their 
resolve.  Where  did  these  good  women  get  their  marvelous  strength  ? 
From  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  He  gives  it  to  all  those  who  will  look 
to  Him  and  desire  it  to  use,  to  do  good  work.  *  *  *  *  Their 
daughters  are  now  scattered  from  Sanliornton  Bay  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  from  Hunkin's  Pond  to  the  mouth  of  the  Oregon,  and  from 
Salmon  Brook  Mountains  to  the  gold  hills  of  California,  blessing 
hundreds  of  useful  and  delightful  homes,  and  there  are  a  "  few  more 
left."  A  few  are  here  to-day,  and  others  as  good, — God  bless 
them  all — to  cheer  our  eyes,  grasp  our  hands,  strengthen  our  hearts, 
and  warm  our  stomachs.  Women  just  like  those  who  fought  their 
way  up  here  among  these  woods,  mountains,  rocks,  and  snowdrifts  are 


77 

not  needed  now.  To-day  a  piano,  or  a  centre  table  covered  with 
books  and  papers,  pictures,  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  are  better  than  a  loom 
or  a  spinning  wheel.  If  the  women  of  to-day  are  more  like  angels, 
then  the  world  has  advanced ;  for  the  Lord  gives  all  a  life  in  this 
world  that  they  may  fit  themselves  here  to  become  angels  in  His 
heaven." 

(11.)  ''The  physicians  of  Sanborn  ton,  among  whom  especially 
the  names  of  a  March,  a  Sanborn,  a  Gerrish,  a  Hill,  a  Carr,  and  an 
Abbott,  can  never  be  forgotten." 

The  lateness  of  the  hour  and  the  disappearance  of  the  resident 
physicians  prevented  a  response. 

(12.)  "  The  teachers  of  Sanbornton  and  the  Preceptors  of  the 
Woodman  Sanbornton  Academy,"  would  have  called  forth  from  Dr. 
Bodwell,  formerly  a  "  Preceptor,"  a  tribute  to  his  tii'st  instructor, 
"who  tauglit  him  his  letters,"  Miss  Esther  Sanborn,  she  being 
present  on  the  occasion. 

Also  from  Rev.  Mr.  Perkins,  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  his  first 
instructor,  "Master  Colby,"  (Benjamin  Colby,  Jun.,)  some  of  whose 
children  were  present.  But  none  of  those  pleasant  reminiscences 
could  be  indulged,  for  the  sun  of  that  joyous  day  had  set,  the  evening 
twilight  was  approaching,  and  with  pensive  yet  happy  hearts,  the 
meeting  was  "  adjourned  for  100  years,"  all  knowing  full  well  that 
they  must  lie  down  iu  their  graves,  long  before  the  next  Centennial 
should  occur. 


APPENDIX. 


Note  "A." 

A  committee  to  superintond  the  decorations  of  the  meetinjr-house  had  previously 
been  chosen  at  a  mcetinfr  of  "those  interested  in  the  Centennial,"  consistin<r  of 
Mr.  H.  P.  Wilson.  Miss  Ruth  C.  Bodwell,  and  Mrs.  Mary  P.  Carr.  It  was  after- 
wards noticed  that  this  committee  were,  very  happily,  the  present  residents  and 
occupants  at  the  several  homesteads  of  the  three  first  pastors,  the  two  last  on  the 
committee  being  daughters  of  the  second  and  third  pastors.  Great  credit  is  due  to 
the  committee  for  their  well-timed  and  persevering  efforts,  and  to  the  ladies  who 
assisted  them  in  the  work  of  decoration. 

A  brief  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  interior  of  the  meeting-house  was 
adorned  may  be  of  interest  in  future  years.  Directly  in  the  rear  of  the  pulpit — 
center  of  the  end  wall — was  a  large  heavily-wrought  cross  of  evergreen,  with 
white  flowers.  Above  this,  the  name  of  "Woooman;"  on  its  right,  "  Bod- 
well," on  its  left,  "  BoDTWELL,"  and  underneath,  "Rdnnels  ;  "  the  whole  en- 
circled over  the  top  by  the  words,  "  Our  Pastors."  A  little  below  the  cross, 
and  extending  along  the  wall  on  either  side,  was  the  following,  in  one  line  : 

"1771.  One  Generation  passeth  away  and  another  Generation 
COMETH.      1871." 

preceded  by  the  portrait  of  Hon.  Nathan  Taylor  encompassed  with  evergreen, 
and  followed  by  that  of  his  great  granddaughter,  when  a  child ;  the  present  Mrs. 
John  II.  Morse,  of  Methuen,  Mass.  At  the  right  of  the  pulpit,  on  the  side  wall, 
was  a  portrait  of  Rev.  A.  Bodwell,  opposite  which,  on  the  left,  was  the  motto, 
"Christ  is  All."  Two  large  photographs  of  the  second  and  third  pastors, 
Messrs.  Bodwell  and  Boutwell,  were  suspended  from  the  desk,  in  front.  The 
windows  and  doors  were  arched  with  thick  evergreen  festoons  ;  while  in  the  rear 
of  the  house,  OA-er  the  doors  and  singers'  seats,  the  two  flags,  English  and  Ameri- 
can, were  gracefully  suspended,  meeting  in  the  center;  the  former  opjiosite  "1771," 
showing  that  our  fathers  were  then  under  the  English  government,  and  the  latter 
opposite  "  1871."  The  word  "  praise,"  beautifully  wrought,  appeared  behind 
the  choir,  and  at  their  right,  an  evergreen  monogram,  "  I.  H.  S.,"  {Jesus  Homi- 
num  Salvatoi).  All  the  lettering  Avas  wrought  with  thick  evergreen,  except  the 
names  of  the  three  first  pastors,  for  which  cedar  sprigs  were  used,  giving  them  a 
dimmer  aspect,  suggestive  of  the  past. 


80 


Note  "B." 

The  Church  Sabbath  school  was  first  organized  the  first  Sunday  of  May,  1819, 
though  Mr.  Bodwell  had  previously  sustained  a  "  Catechetical  Society."  We 
learn,  from  certificates  and  prizes  for  reciting  verses  now  found  with  a  few  of  our 
aged  church  members,  that  the  Hon.  Nathan  Taylor  was  that  year  "  President  of 
the  Sunday  School  Association,"  and  John  Lane,  3d,  (afterwards  Deacon  John 
S.  Lane)  "  Conductor."  About  the  same  time  and  afterwards  branch  schools 
were  carried  on  by  Deacon  Joseph  and  Simeon  Sanborn,  on  the  Sanborn  Road ; 
by  Ebenezer  Sanborn  and  Deacon  Benjamin  Philbrick,  near  Union  Bridge;  and 
by  Benjamin  Robinson,  Mrs.  Jacob  March,  and  Mrs.  Jacob  Hersey,  on  Calef 
Hill. 

Deacon  J.  S.  Lane  continued  superintendent  of  the  main  school  "most  of  the 
time,"  till  1847,  though  Dr.  Thomas  P.Hill,  Woodman  Emery,  and  different 
Preceptors  in  the  Academy,  are  remembered  to  have  served  during  brief  periods 
each.  No  authentic  records,  till  1847,  when  Dr.  James  B.  Abbott  was  first 
chosen  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school,  and  re-elected  by  the  church  for  six 
teen  consecutive  years.  David  C.  Clough,  the  present  esteemed  superintendent, 
has  served  since  1863. 


Note  ''C." 
Jonathan  M.  Taylor,  Esq.,  had  previously  been  elected  Marshal  of  the  day,  to 
conduct  the  general  exercises  and  preside  in  the  Town  Hall;   which  he  did  in  an 
appropriate  and  acceptable  manner. 


Note  "D." 

The  singing  for  both  days  was  furnished  by  the  choir  of  the  church,  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  John  S.  Sanborn,  who  had  at  that  time  served  in  the  capacity  of 
chorister,  with  singular  fidelity,  for  more  than  thirty  years — nearly  one-third 
of  the  century. 

The  choristers  who  preceded  Mr.  Sanborn,  so  far  as  remembered,  were  Jonathan 
Perkins,  Benjamin  Sanborn,  Col.  Jeremiah  Tilton,  Ebenezer  Sanborn,  Charles 
J.  Stewart,  Esq.,  Richard  Hazelton,  Simeon  Sanborn,  Dr.  Thomas  P.  Hill,  and 
Abraham  B.  Sanborn,  whose  average  terms  of  service  could  not  have  exceeded 
seven  or  eight  years  each. 


'      Note  "E." 

A  committee  of  four  gentlemen  and  four  ladies,  representing  four  parts  of  the 
parish,  was  also  chosen  at  the  preliminary  meeting,  to  provide  an  entertainment 
in  the  Town  Hall,  and  to  decorate  the  same  in  a  suitable  manner.  This  commit- 
ee  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nathan  Sanborn,  for  the  Sanborn  Road  in  Tilton; 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joshua  Lane,  for  the  Square;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Otis  S.  Sanborn,  for 
the  Hunkins  District;  and  Mr.  Albert  M.  Osgood  and  Miss  Louise  Emery,  for 
the  Calef  Hill.  These  all  bore  the  names  of  such  as  were  prominent  in  the  early 
history  of  the  church  and  society,  Mr.  N.  Sanborn  being  a  great-grandson  of  Mr. 
Ebenezer  Sanborn,  one  of  the  grantees  of  the  town,  and  still  occupying,  in  part, 


81 

the  soil  granted ;  Mr.  O.  S.  Sanborn  being  a  great-grandson  of  Esquire  Daniel 
SanboiTi,  the  first  justice  of  the  peace  and  prominent  town  officer  ;  and  Mr.  Joshua 
Lane  being  a  grandson  of  "  Master "  Joshua  Lane,  who  was  town  clerk  during 
the  first  twenty-one  years  of  the  present  century.  That  successful  and  most 
praiseworthy  part  of  the  celebration  which  pertained  to  the  Town  Hall,  on  Mon- 
day, is  largely  due  to  the  unwearied  exertions  and  good  taste  of  this  committee. 

"  The  bountiful  collation  "  was  justly  commended  in  the  "  Concord  Statesman  " 
of  November  16th,  which  declares  that  "  turkeys,  chickens,  meats,  bread,  pies, 
and  cake  were  provided  in  such  profusion  that  it  would  require  no  miracle  to  take 
up  any  number  of  baskets  of  fragments  after  that  multitude  had  fed." 

To  convey  some  idea  of  the  decorations  which  made  the  old  Town  Hall  appear 
so  much  like  fairy-land,  let  the  following  notes  suffice.  Two  large  evergreen  trees 
on  either  side  the  desk ;  ten  small  trees  on  the  sides  of  the  house  ;  and  fifteen 
ditto  completely  disguising  the  old  gallery.  Heavy  evergreen  festoons  all  around 
the  room  ;  the  same  double  in  front  of  the  gallery,  with  eight  wreaths  hung  from 
the  festoons— one  in  each  window.  Six  lines  of  similar  festoons  culminating  in 
the  center  of  the  ceiling  and  extending  to  the  four  corners  and  two  sides.  Mottoes 
(in  evergreen):  riglit  of  desk,  "Should  old  acquaintance  be  forgot?" 
On  the  left,  place  occupied  by  the  singers,  "Praise  God  from  whom  all  bless- 
ings FLOW."  Front  of  the  gallery,  "Our  fathers,  where  are  they  V 
Arch  over  the  table,  "  Welcome." 

The  following  full-sized  portraits  were  also  hung  in  the  Town  Hall :  in  center, 
back  of  the  desk,  Hon.  Nathan  Taylor,  Capt.  Asa  Currier,  Ebenezer  Sanborn, 
and  Jeremiah  Sanborn  ;  on  south  side  of  desk,  Dr.  John  Carr  and  Thomas  Tay- 
lor. On  the  north  side,  Dr.  James  B.  Abbott  and  Noah  Eastman,  Esq.,  besides 
two  smaller  portraits  in  front  of  the  desk,  of  Jonatlum  Sanborn  and  Jonathan  H. 
Taylor.  To  these  many  others  might  have  been  added,  had  the  numerous  speci- 
mens of  the  skill  of  Sanborn  ton's  distinguished  artist,  Mr.  Walter  Ingalls,  scat- 
tered among  the  families  of  town,  been  called  into  requisition. 


Note  "  F." 

Responses  to  these  sentiments  are  variously  reported,  and  this  may  add  to  the 
variety  of  the  compilation. 

Copies  or  abstracts  of  the  speeches  were  solicited  from  all  the  speakers. 

The  replies  of  some  were  very  meagre,  of  others  considerably  modified  or  am- 
plified.    Some  were  given  in  the  first  person,  others  in  the  third  person. 

The  form  of  address  used  by  the  speakers  is  omitted. 

Quotation  marks  are  employed  when  the  language  is  believed  to  be  identical 
or  nearly  so  with  what  was  uttered  ;  and  the  whole  may  be  regarded  as  a  fair  ex- 
pression, for  substance,  of  what  was  actually  said,  ,is  reported  by  the  speakers 
themselves. 

Note  "G." 
This  and  the  five  following  sentiments  allude  to  certain  family  names,  especially 
to  such  as  were  most  numerous  both  in  the  church  and  in  the  town,  and  repre- 
sented different  sections  of  the  town  some  of  whose  descendants  also,  from  abroad, 
bearing  the  same  names,  were  expected  at  the  Centennial  Anniversary. 
11 


82 


Many  other  names  might  have  been  complimented  in  a  similar  way,  had  time 
permitted.  The  names  of  Calef,  Gate,  Clark,  Colby,  Durgin,  Dearborn,  East- 
man, Emery,  Gale,  Hunkins,  Hersey,  Jaques,  Moulton,  Morrison,  March,  Thomp- 
son, Weeks,  and  others,  have  occupied  honorable  places  as  members  of  the  church 
and  society.  Of  Josiah  Emery,  Esq.,  it  may  be  added  that  he  was  a  prominent 
member  of  the  church  after  1775,  having  married  Rebecca,  the  sister  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Woodman.  The  names  of  the  seven  original  members  of  the  church  were  James 
Gate,  Deacon  Benjamin  Darling,  Daniel  Sanborn,  Esq.,  Josiah  Sanborn,  Aaron 
Sanborn,  Abijah  Sanborn,  and  Deacon  Nathaniel  Tilton,  the  third,  fifth,  and 
sixth  being  brothers. 


Note  "H." 

A    LIST    OF    THE    DEACONS. 


Benjamin  Darling, 
Nathaniel  Tilton, 
Samuel  Lane,   - 
Benjamin  Philbrick, 
Simeon  Moulton, 
Joseph  Sanborn,    - 
Moses  Emery,  - 
John  S.  Lane, 
Richard  Lane, 
James  B.  Abbott,  M.  D., 
Abraham  B.  Sanborn, 
Joseph  Emery, 


Appointed. 

Retired. 

Jan.      2, 

1772, 

Jan.      2, 

1772, 

May    8, 

1811 

Aug. 

1811 

1811, 

April  3, 

18.37 

April  30, 

1812, 

May  21, 

1821 

Jan.    10, 

1817, 

April  3, 

1837 

July     5, 

1821, 

Ajn-il  3, 

1837 

May    13, 

1837, 

May  13, 

1848 

May    13, 

1837, 

May  25, 

1851 

Jufy     8, 

1848, 

July    6, 

1870 

June     1, 

1851, 

Sept.     3, 

1870 

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